


A Rave'N Nights

by lunawolf8074



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Clubbing, F/M, Gen, High School, M/M, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Rave, aidan/dean are bi-sexual, aidan/dean-DJ, evangeline-dancer/server, graham-bouncer, graham-police officer, james/jed- bartender, lee-lawyer, liv-social worker, luke-gay, martin-doctor, night life, orlando-dancer/server, richard is awesome uncle, richard-mechanic, richard/lee- club owners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-05-16 11:23:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5826691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunawolf8074/pseuds/lunawolf8074
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Aidan are students at the Brooklyn University during the day , but at night they are the premier DJ's at Club Rave'n...come party and let the music seduce you on the dance floor tonight</p><p> </p><p>A/N: the first few chapters are more like preludes , but they help set up the players of this story. All the people in this are just using their names but bare no similiarities to the actual actors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character Bio's

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This takes place in the city of New Brunswick, NJ...I've never been there but it serves the backdrop for the beginning of the story...it moves to New York City, NY later. So if anything is inaccurate I apologize for this. Also think of Richard looking like he did in robin hood (long hair and a slight shadow on face), Liv Tyler( from the incredible hulk), Lee pace ( halt and catch fire). The first several chapters are the beginning of this story.
> 
> Warning; this chapter has some physical, drugs, and alcohol abuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: this chapter gives you some background on the characters here in this story...it is not 100% complete and as I write I will be adding more to their background information. So expect updates on these along the way. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this piece of work I have been working off and on for a while.

Richard Armitage- co-club owner/dancer/ : ( bi sexual)6'2", 36,dark brown hair, blue eyes,After the death of his twin sister Anna he sought and won custody of his nephew Aidan, then later on becomes the legal guardian of Dean O'Gorman. For roughly 9 years he works as an auto mechanic before one day him and his friend Lee Pace both decide to open a club in New York together. They name it Club A-Rave'N Nights. They end up getting some financial backing from a Popular Soccer Star, Benedict Cumberhatch, who invests in their dream and frequents the club on a regular basis. He is interested in Martin Freeman who is a upcoming chef in New York city.

**************************************

Lee Pace- co-owner of the club/ lawyer, 6'5", 37 (club), dark brown hair, blue eyes: him and richard go way back to when they were children...when Richards sister was killed in a car accident he helped him get custody of his nephew and was there to give moral support when Richard needed him the most. Eventually he grew tired of the so called rat race and him and Richard went in together on running a night club Club A-Rave'N Nights. Dated liv for few years before admitting he's gay then dates luke evans. 

************************************************  
Graham McTavish- police officer/ bouncer at Club Rave'N , (gay),6'2", 45, light brown hair, blue eyes, interested in Adam. 

**********************************************************

Martin Freeman- ( gay)chef , 38, 5'6", light brown hair, blue eyes, interested in Richard. Martin is a new upcoming chef in the New York area at the Haute Fusion Restaurant.Some of his favorite quotes to say are:

* I'm a creature of habit, mashed-potato comfort, I like rugs. Our sofa's squishy. Maybe too squishy - it's hard to get up sometimes.

*Most people have a passive relationship with music and clothes, with culture. But music was my first contact with anything creative. Music is it, as far as I'm concerned.*

*If you can't stand the heat then get out of my kitchen...it's not the place for those without a fiery passion for my creations.

*******************************************  
Evangeline Lilly- dancer/server/ college student, 19, green eyes, brown hair,5'5" interested in Orlando, (high school- archery club). She is the half sister to David Welham. When she was 8 years old and he was 20 both of their parents died in a plane crash and left him as the sole guardian to his little half sister. Her brother quickly moved them both away from the place of painful memories of their beloved parents death and got a job to support them both as he tried to finish college. In her freshman year she dyed her hair red for a short time before letting it go back to her original coloring of brown. Her and Aidan dated for a year before she realized that they were better off as friends and she became best friends with both Aidan and Dean. After she breaks up with Aidan, Angel realizes that she is really in love with Orlando and they begin dating shortly after.Eventually she goes to work for Mr. Armitage at his and Lee's night club as a waitress with a bit of dancing on the side. Her friendship stays strong with both Dean and Aidan through the years.

 

****************************************  
Dean O'Gorman- DJ / college student (computer gaming graphics designer and composer/DJ) (gay), 5'8", 20, blond hair, blue eye (high school-cheerleader-stuntman/ martial arts (year 3-4) ) { outfit for club-black leather vest, black pants, black leather armband with fangs- he comes out throws arms over head , head back on a roar, chest puffed out as he displays his muscular chest, glowing fangs in hair, kohl eyeliner}DJ name: "Leo" Dean. In high school Dean is bullied on several occasions before he finally decides enough is enough and he can't keep depending on Aidan to save him from harm, so he joins Aidan in learning martial arts. In his Junior year of school Dean and Aidan confess their love for each other finally to their friends Angel and Andy's delight. After graduating from high school he goes to college in New York with Aidan and he becomes a DJ at Club A-Rave'N Nights where him and Aidan are the hottest DJ's around.

**************************************

Aidan Turner- DJ/ college student ( music composer for gaming/ DJ)( bi-sexual), 5'11",19, dark brown hair, brown eyes, (high school- archery club/martial arts-taekwondo ) in high school he was giving the nickname Hawk Eye from Angel because of his archery skills...{ outfir for club- open black leather vest, black leather pants, black leather band on biceps w/ feathers dangling, -he comes out head thrown back on a scream, back arched as his arms are thrown out to the side of his body as he flexes his back/arm muscles, fists clenched, kohl eyeliner} DJ name: Dark "Hawk" Aidan. In High school Aidan witnesses Dean being bullied and it sparks his protective side where he convinces his Uncle Richard to let him take martial arts classes (taekwondo) where he gains the ability to protect those he cares about. Dean likes to call him a Irish Chuck Norris. In their Junior year Aidan's training saves Dean from a vicious attack and it spurs Dean into joining Aidan in learning how to protect himself. At that time , Aidan also admits his feelings for Dean (thanks to his best friend, Angel, smacking him with a verbal board) and they begin to date after that.After high school is over Aidan and Dean both go off to college in New York where he learns how to be a music composer for games and DJ...his dream is to compose music for games that people love to play.

************************************

Karl Urban- high school coach of the football/ track team of New Brunswick High School, straight, 6'1", 25, dark brown hair to his shoulders, hazel eyes- he helps to protect dean when he is attacked in the locker room by the football team and then punishes the team for their actions.

*****************************************

Miranda Otto- high school coach of cheerleaders/ archery team of New Brunswick High School, 23, 5'5", medium auburn hair, blue eyes. Her first year as the cheerleader coach she becomes aware of a group of kids bullying the younger students and decides to put a stop to it by talking to the principle about it. She notices Dean has the build of being a stuntman for the cheer squad and gives a nudge for him to try out...her intuition proves correct and his sophmore year he joins. thanks to one of her best students, Orlando, she also gains Aidan and Angel on her archery team..they prove very good at the sport.

*****************************************

Benedict Cumberhatch- Senior high school student/football player of New Brunswick, 18-21, light auburn hair, blue-green eyes,6'0"....he confesses to the Football Coach about the harassment of Dean...later on he becomes a soccer star and after signing with New York Red Bulls he becomes a financial backer to Club A-Rave'N Nights , helping it to get off the ground in the beginning.

*************************************

Orlando Bloom- dancer/server/college student, 20 , brown hair, brown eyes, 5'11" interested in Evangeline since her Freshman year. After Angel and Aidan break up Angel and him confess their feelings to each other and begin to date...they remain High School sweethearts beyond high school..always devoted and in love. Later on it is found out that Orlando's family isn't what everyone thought it was. His parents were never home and very neglectful of him...they always left him in the care of hired help as they traipsed around the world. So to compensate for the lack of care he threw himself into his archery and eventually got a partial scholarship for it. He ends up working at A Rave'N Nights Club as a waiter and dancer to help pay for the rest of his college and to help save up for a apartment later on since he refuses to accept any money from his parents...seeing it as bribe money because they don't like his chosen degree.

**************************************************

David Winham-30, 6'0", auburn hair, blue-green eyes. He is the legal guardian to his half sister from his mother's second marriage, Evangeline Lilly since he was 20 years old. He juggled a job and college as he sought to give the girl a good life...even moving them away from all the painful memories of their parents death. 

********************************************* 

)Mikael Persbrandt- police officer/ ex-marine 

*******************************************  
Liv tyler- social worker, black/brown hair, blue eyes , 5'10", 22-35 ,american (straight) marries Viggo. for a few years she dates Lee but they both realize it is not working out between them because Lee finally admits he is gay, she is fine with that but she needs more in her life, so they part on good terms...she remains friends with Lee even coming to his club with her love Viggo. She is in love with Viggo Mortensen and they eventually marry.

****************************************

Viggo Mortensen-college professor (photography/ digital graphics), 40, 5'11", green eyes, brown hair, marries Liv

 

****************************************************

Jeffrey Thomas-Coach of the Zebra Football Team first 2 years of Aidan and Dean's high school. He is very homophobic and allows a few guys to bully Dean early on his first year at school. He gets in trouble a little bit with the principle for not keeping his boys in check...he keeps his mouth shut at school for the duration of his teaching, making sure his boys don't get into trouble but allowing them to voice their opinions of LGBTQ community. When he retired he was replaced by a young coach Karl Urban who was more open minded than Coach Thomas. 

*********************************

William Kircher- Principle of New Brunswick High School. Salt and pepper hair, 5'9", hazel eyes. He is married to Nicole Kircher and they have 4 daughters together. When an incident of bullying comes to his attention he deals with it by expelling the students and having a talk to some of the teachers and the head Coach, Mr. Thomas, who knew the bullying behavior was going on but didn't do anything about it. He notes the files of those teachers who turned a blind eye to this with disapproving remarks about their behavior.


	2. Safe and Sound

To say it all started with a bouncing ball would have been an understatement...there was a ball bouncing, but it was bouncing into the street where oncoming traffic was moving. It was a bright summer day in the Golden Oaks Apartments when a small moving truck pulled up to the complex and a young couple stepped out. The woman who had golden brown hair with dark tips, squealed in delight at the trees lining the walkway that ran down the center of the complex...her blue eyes sparkled as she turned towards the dark haired man who looked like a scraggly disheveled brute. She shrieked as she danced over to the man who grabbed her backside and lifted her up so she can wrap her legs around his waist and kissed him very passionately ...both not paying any attention to a small blond child scrambling out of the cab and shuffling along the sidewalk as he groaned in disgust at the overly affectionate couple. As he stood there trying to not die of mortification at his mother, Starla and boyfriend, Dragon, behavior, he saw a blue ball bouncing past him in between two cars and out into the street where several cars were coming down. He watched it roll out into the middle of the road..then his eyes saw a small dark haired boy giving chase...rushing after the blue ball...his eyes went wide and his heart stopped as he realized the child wasn't going to stop and would be hit.

"Look out!" the blond child screamed and tackled the dark haired boy to the ground..inches from the street and a car that whizzed passed, unaware of the danger. Breathing hard he looked down into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that were tearing up in fear....hearing shouts around then suddenly his mother's hands were grabbing him away and screaming into his face about how careless he was...he tried to look back at the boy who was being picked up by a dark haired man off of the ground...he clutched the child to his chest as he fussed at the boy...the blond boys attention was shifted back to the her.

"Dean O'Gorman! What do you think you were doing! You know better than to play in the street!" she began to drag him behind her..just shouting at him...his eyes kept trying to see the little boy as worry ate at him, which was the wrong thing to do because he was twisted around to face her red angry face. "Are you listening to me?" she grabbed both his shoulders and began to shake him there on the sidewalk...punctuating her words with forceful jerks. "You better listen to me you brat. Why do I even talk to you? You are nothing but a careless, worthless, stupid BRAT!" with those words a resounding slap across his cheek echoed out. Dean's cheek had a large angry red hand print across it that stood out as his face went pale in fear over the anger he saw in her eyes....his soft blue eyes saw her raising her hand once more to strike and he cringed as he waited for the next blow...it never came. A deep voice growled above where he hung...peeking up he saw the dark haired man that held the dark haired child holding onto his mother's hand in his grip.

"You will refrain ...miss...from striking this boy in such a manner." she snarled back briefly but something in the mans eyes made her bite back her retort and let her son go as she pushed him away as if he was rubbish. When the woman walked away to go back to the other guy, the older man knelt down to Dean's level and he looked the child in the eyes...his dark blue eyes peered into the softer blue then he smiled which softened the mans face with kindness there. "Are you ok?" Dean nodded as he rubbed his arm that he knew would have a bruise on it come the morning. "My name is Richard Armitage...and this is my nephew Aidan Turner. What's your name?" his expression was full of kindness and patience as he waited for the child to speak.

"My...I'm Dean...Dean O'Gorman." the man held out his hand which Dean took and they shook like gentlemen.

"Well Mr. Dean...I saw what you did there and I want to say Thank You for being there for Aidan. I would have lost him if you weren't." little Dean began to blush...Richard reached out and ruffled the boys blond hair who giggled at the gesture...suddenly Dean heard his name being barked out as his mother and her boyfriend began to walk away.

"Dean! Get you arse over here and help with this crap." Dean' face fell but he hurried to follow..as he passed Dragon he felt a sharp slap on the back of his head..making him stumble after his mother. "You heard your mom...get your lazy arse moving boy." with one last look over his shoulder, Dean saw the little boy waving bye at him..he chanced a quick wave of his own before he walked out of sight into his new apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later found little Dean out on the playground sitting on the swing set as he slowly pushed himself back and forth.....toeing the soft dirt under his feet in boredom until a small shadow came into view. He quickly looked up and saw a pair of dark brown eyes staring back at him and a tooth gapped grin splitting the young face of his neighbor across the way...Aidan...which Dean returned with his own.

"Hey." the small voice spoke out.

"Hey." he replied back. "Your Aidan, right?" the child nodded his head vigorously as he perched himself onto a swing next to him.

"Yup...you Dean. I remember. you know why? Huh? You know why?" Dean shook his head and the child continued. "Because I'm about to be 6 and I'm a big boy now. That's what uncle Richie says...that I'm turning into a big boy. How old are you?" he furrowed his brow as he gazed with expectation on his face.

"I'm almost 7..or I will be in August. When's your birthday?" he queried as they both swayed together on the swings.

"June..June 19...that's in 1 week." he grinned in joy revealing his gap in his teeth as he kicked up his feet to spray sand out a bit...movement to the side of the play yard caught both of their attentions...Aidan giggled as he waved at his uncle who took a seat on a bench to watch both boys. "That's my uncle Richie. I live with him since momma and daddy died in a car accident. I miss them but uncle is nice to live with."

"How did it happen?" Dean asked ...seeing the other little boy going sad for a moment.

"Uncle says it was New Years Eve..they were on their way to a party when some girl hit them..killing everyone. The police said the girl was on her phone while driving...wasn't paying attention and ran a red light. I was staying with uncle that night....cops came and told us...." suddenly he began to tear up and he hung his head. Dean quickly got off his swing to kneel in front of the boy..seeing the tears falling from his eyes he quickly wrapped his arms around the dark haired boy who began to sob in his shirt...a large shadow fell over them both then a deep voice made soothing sounds. Dean looked up and saw the uncle crouching down next to them both...he moved his hand to wrap around the back of his nephews neck as he made soothing sounds to the grieving boy.

"Shhh...it's okay Aid...I'm here...shhh..." after a few moments the child calmed down and raised his head to look him in the eyes...two pairs of blue eyes gazed back at him with concern...he gave a them a watery smile. "How would you like some ice cream?" the darker boys face lit up, but the blond looked down to the ground then suddenly his head jerked up at the mans next words. "What you think Dean? Does ice cream sound good to you?" Aidan jumped off his swing and began crowing in delight...they both smiled at him. " I have chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream...nuts...whipping cream..." he was interrupted by the excited whoop Aidan let out.

"And chocolate syrup too!?" he let out another whoop of joy at the nod..then quickly he turned to his new found friend..the grin on his face was infectious. "Come on Deano you gotta come for ice cream. Uncle makes the best ice cream around." the man chuckled.

"That's what he says..but I think we need a second opinion. Want to help us with that and let us know if I do make the best ice cream sundaes around?" Dean bit his lips and shyly nodded. He felt a large hand come down on his shoulder making him stagger a bit but he grinned up at the man. "Well that settles it...we're having the best sundaes around complete with cherries on top." little Deano looked up and there was a joy within that was hidden moments ago now shining through those cerulean eyes. It wasn't long before the three of them were seated around the kitchen counter on tall bar stools with over flowing sundaes that was made up of three different flavors of ice cream- strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. On top of these confection was razzleberry sauce, chocolate syrup, and pecans in a sweet syrup with fluffy whipped creamed peaks and there sitting on the very top sat a ruby red cherry. There was a lot delightful moaning and humming as they all smiled ecstasy over the sweet milky goodness ran across their tongue...Richard laughed as he watched both boys enjoying their dessert. "So...Dean. What's the verdict? Is this the best ice cream around or is my nephew wrong?" the young boys eyes went big and round as he quickly answered.

"Oh no uncle Ric...I mean Mr. Armitage. These are the best I ever had...ever sir." Richard held up his hand to still the boys words.

"Please..It's ok if you want to call me Richie. I don't mind at all." he reached over and ruffled the blond hair making the child giggle at the gesture...he then looked down at his bowl, a feeling of unease overcoming him briefly "I'm happy you like them. So, Dean...I'm wondering ..are your parents going to be wondering where you are right now? I can give them a call and let them know where you are at and your fine." the child looked up at him as sadness clouded his eyes again...stealing the light of joy that moments ago was dancing there.

"My momma is sleeping right now with her boyfriend. They like to sleep in the day and stay up all night." something in his voice told that there was more to this story than he was letting on...Richard let it go for now and focused on the treat before them.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The weeks since that day of ice cream flew by as the two little boys spent every waking moment with each other in Richards home...it seemed Dean was right about his mother not really caring..in fact she seemed to be happy that the boy was out of her hair during the day. Richard found out as the weeks moved quickly that Dean's mother and her boyfriend were both alcoholics and habitual drug users ...if Dean misbehaved then they would beat him or starve him as punishment. Richard almost a couple times called child welfare but Dean begged him not to...he had no where else to go and he didn't want to leave Aidan...as long as Richard was there the abuse diminished greatly, so for him he kept quite..for now, but Richard watched and the bruises began to fade quickly as a light shone brighter and brighter in those sweet blue eyes. Then late one night the very thing Richard feared happened and it sent everyone's life into chaos.

It was late at night ..almost two o'clock in the morning when there was a loud pounding on his door followed by a child's screams.

"Richie! Help! Please Richie let me in...help!" Richard jerked awake and stumbled out of bed ..running towards the door as quickly as he could. The moment he opened the door Dean flew into his arms...sobbing hysterically into the older mans shoulders as he held the child to his chest while making soothing noises to calm him down.

"Shhh..little one. I got you...I got you." he felt Dean clutching his shirt..tugging him towards the door as he whimpered. "What is it Dean?" the tugging became frantic and he stood up..allowing the child to pull him across the way towards where his apartment was..as he neared the open door dread began to fill Richards heart...something felt wrong. "Hello! Hey, It's your neighbor Armitage...is everything ...?" he was silenced as Dean began to blabber out in between tears.

"It's momma. She won't wake up...I tried and tried to wake her and Dragon up but they just lay there...I...I think they're ..DEAD!" the last word was said on a wail...he put his hands on the childs shoulders and made him look him in the eyes as he spoke slowly for the child.

"Dean...go back my home and sit with Aidan. I will check on them...you go and sit with him , Aid needs you to keep him from being afraid..alright?" those lips trembled but he nodded quickly and rushed back over to his friends house to wait for Richie to fix this for him. Once the child was out the door , Richard moved towards the kitchen and grabbing the phone he called 911 as he moved through the apartment.

"911. What's your emergency?" the voice of a woman came over the phone...bringing some relief to him that he wasn't alone.

"This is Richard Armitage..I live in the Golden Oaks Apartments. My neighbors child came to my door screaming about his something wrong with his mother...I'm in the apartment now to check on her...I think we need an ambulance here. I'm looking through the rooms for...Oh God!" Richard almost dropped the phone when he saw both of them laying in the bedroom..the smell of waste was very over powering , making him want to reel out the room, but the womans calm voice on the line gave him strength to continue. He could hear her talking to the police on the other line as he described what he was seeing...until finally he heard them arrive with the sounds of the ambulance sirens drawing closer. He turned to see a officer entering and he waited for him to come in before he talked to him. "Officer..I really need to get back to my apartment across the way..I have two children inside." he was given leave as another officer escorted him back where he was greeted by both children ..fear in their young eyes. Quickly gathering both children close he sat them down with him on the couch as the young officer, Mr. McTavish- if his name tag was correct, tried to get his statement, but the young childs cries and the sounds of the sirens across the way made it difficult. Whenever his partner , Mr. Persbrandt, came in and told them that Dean's mother was still alive and being rushed to the hospital, Officer McTavish knew it was a lost cause to get their statement right now, so he offered to take them to the hospital which was gratefully accepted.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The moment Richard and the kids entered the hospital they were bombarded with questions that he was unsure how to answer..like does she have any allergies...whats her medical history...and so forth, none of which him or Dean could answer at all. He did notice that Officer McTavish stayed with them...even brought in a stuffed lion and wolf to calm both children down so they could talk finally...again the questions were a bit hard and worrisome.

" How did you know the couple, Miss Starla O'Gorman and Mr.Ernie Campion?" ~we are neighbors..my nephew here and her son Dean are friends ~ "Did you know Miss Starla O'Gorman very well Mr. Armitage?" ~ no ..just Dean.~ " How long have you known the child?" ~ 2 months ~ "do you know if the boy has any family he can stay with?" ~ none...his father is unknown and there are no other family that are close. ~ as Mr. McTavish asked questions Richard could see Dean getting more and more antsy until finally the child became upset whenever McTavish mentioned about him going to a children's home until family could be found. Dean suddenly went from a calm child into screaming fits that were so bad that a nurse was threatening to give him a sedative, but Richard was able to calm him whenever he took the distraught boy into his arms making soothing sounds and rubbing his back.

"Officer McTavish can not he stay with me..there's room and familiar surroundings. I can watch over him." Richard stroked the little boys back as he spoke.

"I'm sorry Mr. Armitage, that's not my call but when the social worker gets here you can ask her about it." he knew it wasn't much comfort to them but it was better than nothing...with a pat on the man's shoulder he walked away to talk to his partner. During those wee hours of the morning the trio found out that Dragon AKA Ernie Campion was DOA (dead on arrival) from a drug overdose and Starla was being flushed of the drugs still flooding her body...no word on if she would survive , so they waited in the waiting room for any word. The only good news they received was from the social worker Miss Liv Tyler, who after evaluating Richard and the children deemed that it would be best for Dean if he stayed with Richard for the time being, until a full home study could be done. She seemed to be a nice woman..very concerned for Dean's welfare , as she considered the childs wishes when they spoke...tilting her dark haired head to the side and peering at them with those intense blue eyes until finally with a smile she allowed him to stay.At one point a little after 5 in the morning Dean had laid down on the bench seat with his head pillowed on Richards jacket and Aidan snuggled into him with his small head tucked into the blonds neck. Richard reached over ,from where he was sitting at their head on the bench, to gently stroke the blond curls in comfort..hearing a almost quiet sniffle from Dean and the low murmur of his nephew to comfort him he began to sing a song that he would sing to Aidan every night since the death of his twin sister Anna over a year ago.

I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, I'll never let you go  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, don't leave me here alone  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

As he sang Aidan's own small voice joined in the chorus like it did every night ...blending sweetly with his own timbre....his small hand would reach up and softly stroke the older boys cheek.

Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window darling  
Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold onto this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone

Each stroke on his hair made the child relax more and more...those blue eyes sinking further and further closed till finally they rested on his tear stained cheeks...and still Richard sang on into the calm...Aidans voice still trying to keep up with his but it was getting softer and softer till it too faded to a sleepy whisper, then nothing.

Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound

Ooh, (ooh), ooh, (ooh)  
La la (la la)  
La la (la la)  
Ooh, (ooh), ooh, (ooh)  
La la (la la)

Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh  
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh  
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

He sighed heavily as he saw both children had finally drifted off to sleep...he kept the soft touches on both heads to comfort both , his mind thinking hard about this situation he found himself in,when suddenly out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of his old friends , Lee Pace who was a lawyer, stepping off the elevator and heading towards him. The man was beautiful to the eyes with his rich honey brown tousled hair that framed a sweetheart face...his sharp azure blue eyes that never missed a thing and a elegant body that moved with utter grace. Richard carefully stood up so not to disturb both boys and met Lee halfway in a hug..taking his own comfort from a familiar touch. Lee had there for him after Anna's accident ,that took both her and her husbands life, to give him and Aidan support through the whole funereal and after when he really needed someone the most during these hard times. Now once again, when Richard needed his support 0nce more, he was here again for them.

"Lee. I'm so glad you came...I am in need of your advice once more. I am considering a crazy idea and I want to know what I need to do." standing there telling the man his thoughts he could see the wheels in Lee's head turning at a phenomenal rate. Looking over to the sleeping boys with a smile on his lips Richard heard Lee's soft remark to him.

"Are you sure this is what you want Rich? Once you do this there is no turning back my friend." his blue eyes saw the assured nod...no hesitation any where present upon his strong chiseled face.

"Yes. I am sure I want to do this Lee. It's for the best of all." he heard the low chuckle next to him...knowing Lee would have it ready for him by this afternoon...a feeling of rightness over took him. He shook his friends hand before the man walked back out the door to deal handle the task for Richard, who turned to greet the elderly doctor coming over to him with news that they awaited to hear.


	3. Brave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: this song is by Josh Groban- Brave

Wake up, wake up, the sun cannot wait for long  
Reach out, reach out before it fades away  
You will find the warmth when you surrender  
Smile into the fear and let it play

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can't be so  
You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause' it's all so close  
When you stand up and hold out your hand  
In the face of what I don't understand  
My reason to be brave

Hold on, hold on, so strong, time just carries on  
And all that you thought was wrong is pure again  
You can't hide forever from the thunder  
Look into the storm and feel the rain

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can't be so  
You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause' it's all so close  
When you stand uṗ and hold out your hand  
In the face of what I don't understand  
My reason to be brave

O oh oh oh oh  
O oh oh oh oh  
O oh oh oh oh  
Go on, go on

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can't be so  
You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause' it's all so close  
When you stand up and hold out your hand  
In the face of what I don't understand  
My reason to be brave

 

As the afternoon sun rose high into the sky Richard walked back into the hospital, his head held high with confidence and a fire in his eyes as he walked down towards the room of Miss Starla O'Gorman...Attorney Lee Pace and the social worker Miss Liv Tyler close on his heels with their cases in hand. Earlier after Doctor McKellan had told him that Miss O'Gorman was going to be held for several days in recovery then transferred to a psychiatric ward for awhile, the fire inside of him grew, he quickly roused the boys and took them home to wait. When Lee showed up with papers and the social worker in tow they both sat down with Dean alone and questioned him for a bit...his answers made them both smile in relief and quick as a wink they had him sign the paperwork before him...then Richard signed...now all that was left was to talk to Starla. Before the ink was dried on the paper Richard called another friend to come and sit with the boys...Mr. Ken Stott, who was like an uncle to the family for years. It wasn't a problem and as soon as he arrived all three adults swiftly left for the hospital.

As they strode down the hallway, passing many rooms with the sounds of beeping machines and sterile smells they focused on the room , 432,near the end of the hallway that held their target inside. Richard stopped briefly to smooth his hair back from his face before he entered..he needed to be calm and focused to do this, then he opened the door to the room and entered. Richards eyes swept the room and came to focus on the woman who laid there on that stark white bed that accentuated her pale face , Her hair that once was a soft honey blond now looked snarly and disgusting to the touch..she rolled her eyes at him and turned her head away with a snarky remark on her lips.

"What do you want ...Mr. Armi?" he ignored her mispronouncing his name for now and proceeded with his plan.

"I came here Miss O'Gorman to talk to you." she turned her head to him and raised an eyebrow at him.

"About what?" her voice was sharp as she stared up at him.

"I have come to seek legal guardianship of Dean O'Gorman for the time that you are unable to care for him. When you are cleared of any and all substance and can prove that you are able to provide him with a safe and healthy home,then you can retake guardianship of him back...until then , I will be his temporary caretaker." she began to laugh and scoff at his words.

"Are you f**king serious? What makes you so all high and mighty to think you can come in here and tell me that you want my kid? Why do you want such a useless brat that's a waste of utter space anyways..are you some sicko pervert who "likes" little kids?" her words were angering him ...especially the part about Dean being useless and a waste of space. His eyes went glacial as he leaned in close to the woman...her eyes didn't waver from his as his deep voice turned hard.

"I'm very serious Miss..Starla. Dean is a good boy..not a waste of space or useless...unlike..." suddenly Lee's voice cut him off.

"Richard."Lee knew what his friend was about to say and stopped him, because those words wouldn't help them achieve the goal they had. Richard nodded his head and taking a deep breath he softened his voice.

"Look Starla. I am not trying to take away your son from you..I just am looking out for Dean's best interests , just as you would do as his mother. Him and Aidan are best friends, so he's got something stable to lean on with so much changing for him at this time...a place he's familiar with, faces that are the same. Dean needs these things since your not going to be there for a while Starla...he's starting school in a few weeks and he needs stability right now. Come on, let us do the right thing..the best thing for him and let him stay where he's at instead of going to some foster home that doesn't know him or has his utmost best interests." Richard lowered his voice into a pleading..understanding tone that he hoped might shame her into doing the right thing for once..maybe it would get through to her on some level. "As his mother, don't you want the best for him until you are able to give it to him?" he saw her eyes narrow briefly and then she growled at him...a look of disgust on her face directed at him.

"Fine. You want him..you can have him." quickly Lee stepped forward with the papers for her to sign...she looked at them in confusion. "What's this?" she gestured at the official looking documents in front of her as Lee spoke.

"These are papers for Temporary Transfer of Guardianship of Dean O'Gorman into Richard Armitage custody." he answered to the woman who seemed to be getting a bit upset...it was Miss Tyler who stepped in to calm her down.

"Nobody's trying to take away your right as his mother...we are all trying to look out for Dean here. This is only temporary until you are able to get clean and remain clean for a year...it states that you get visits on the weekends and holidays..phone calls...everything that a parent gets when they are away on a trip for extended time." Starla saw that they were right and she snapped her fingers at them.

"Fine..fine. Give me a pen so I can sign this thing." as she signed away her rights temporarily she muttered under her breath but they heard anyways. " I can't believe all this over some mistake I made years ago...I knew I shouldn't have slept with that son of a b***ch...my friends said he was good for nothing...even gave me a good for nothing brat to tie me down." she finished signing her name and then slammed the pen down onto the bed in frustration. "Fine..take him..get him out of my hair for awhile." she turned her head away as Miss Tyler took the paperwork and signed them herself then handing the precious documents back over to Lee and she left out the door to wait for both men..her anger at the callousness of the woman angered her..Lee followed on her heels. Richard turned towards the door and just before he opened it he heard her voice from the bed...making him pause for a moment. "Take care of him ..please...may you do better than I did..he deserves that for once." He turned to look at her and he saw a tear in her eyes and he knew then for all her words she really did care for her child ...even slightly she did care. He looked her in the eyes for that moment and his face softened briefly.

"Thank you Miss O'Gorman...Starla. I will." with that he was gone. Richard walked to where the other two were standing, waiting for him to join him with smiles on their faces.

"Well Mr. Armitage...I will be seeing you soon to do the inspection of your home and see how Dean is adapting to his new surroundings." she held out her hand to him and they shook. "Until then..it was nice meeting you..congratulations and good luck." she then turned towards Lee and held out her hand...Richard noticed something in their eyes that raised a question inside and he tried to hide his slight smile. As he watched her walk away and his friends eyes followed her then focused back on him , seeing Richard giving him a look his cheeks pinked a tiny bit and Richards smile grew.

"Shut up. It's not what your thinking." his blush intensified as Richard raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine..she's very lovely. Nothing can come of this...she wouldn't be interested anyways..so forget about her and I." Richard turned his head away briefly to give Lee a moment to gather himself once more..his thoughts straying to Lee's past 5 years ago. Lee was happily married to his high school sweetheart for a year before they found out that she was pregnant with a son....things seemed to be perfect until one fateful day when she had gone to the store to buy groceries and she was mugged in her car. The man grabbed her out of the vehicle and threw her to the ground..but not before stabbing her...then he drove off , leaving her to bleed to death on the ground...it took awhile before help arrived but it was to late to save either of them...in that one split moment in time his whole world shattered around him. Now 5 years later it seems his friend was finally mending those pieces together again...he hoped so...Lee deserved some happiness in his life once more and if he could help with that , even better.

"I don't know Lee...she seemed awfully interested to me...I mean the way her eyes glanced at you and the way she spoke your name says maybe there's a chance. Of course that's if she can get past your working all ..." he was cut short by the light punch to his arm and he smiled at the mock growl coming from Lee.

"I don't work all the time. I'm just very dedicated to what I do." they both chuckled for a moment then Lee reached out and gave his friend a slight nudge towards the elevator door. "Now go on and see those boys..give them a hug from me. I need to go and file this mess you dragged me into before 5 this morning. Rich...good luck and congratulations." with a smile they walked away from each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 YEARS LATER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been several years since the day that Dean had found his mother, Starla, lying nearly dead on her bedroom floor from the drug overdose her and her boyfriend had consumed....and in those few years the child blossomed under the loving watchful eyes of Richard. There used to be shadows in the young boys cerulean eyes, but now those blue eyes shone with such a light that it was hard to envision a darkness ever being there before. It came quite a shock to them all whenever they found out that Dean was educational several years behind his age group but with hard work and support he was able to get caught up to Aidans level . Another amazing thing to happen was how much Aidan blossomed having Dean there...in more ways than one...his laughter came more readily than it used to since the death of his parents..he also began to shoot up in height surpassing Dean by becoming tall and lanky at only 9 years old to the others 10 years. Richard sighed deeply into his morning coffee as he recognized the symptoms of early onset of puberty occuring to his nephew...the height jump..the sudden moodiness in the mornings..and the most telling signs was the hunched over form rushing from the bedroom to the bathroom every morning as if he was trying to hide something. He began to think that it was about time for the boys to get separate rooms from each other...which meant a bigger home was needed to accommodate them all soon. As he took a sip of his coffee he heard the click of the bedroom door opening and his blue eyes spotted the very being he was thinking about moments ago racing across the hallway in his customary hunch over for the bathroom then the slam of the door followed by the audible click of it locking. Just as he took another sip from his cup he heard a shrill cry from the bathroom and he nearly choked on his drink as he sprayed it all over the table.

"OH MY GAWD! WHAT IS THAT!" suddenly the door flew open and Aidan came flying out of the bathroom..his face had panic written on it as he ran out and towards his uncle. Richard saw the poor boy breathing hard and turning red as he stood by the table..his brown eyes looking everywhere but at the older man before him...finally he stammered out. "Uhhmm..uncle Rich? I need you to look at something...please." he shifted foot to foot in embarrassment...seeing Richard motion for him to show him. Richard waited for a moment then his eyebrows went up into his hairline as Aidan shakingly pulled down his boxers. Richard had to choke down a laugh as he saw the "problem"..it seemed his nephew found hair where none was before. "I'm sick ain't I Uncle Rich? You can tell me..I'm a big boy , I can handle it. This is some kinda disease, right?" the worry there was pronounced on the young boy and Rich realized it was time to have the dreaded talk with the boy.

"No Aid. You're not dying. This is perfectly natural son. It happens to all boys when they are becoming a young man." he caught the relived sigh as the boy nearly crumpled in solace that he wasn't dying from this growth below. "I'll explain what's happening, but first you need to go wake Dean..I think he needs to hear this also and I only want to explain this once." he saw Aid was going to argue, but Rich gave him a look and he gave in begrudgingly to his uncle....grumpily he went back to the room that thay shared and tried to wake up his friend. On the bed they shared was a sleeping blond whose hair was in disarray across his pillow...Aid leaned over and gently shook the older boys shoulder.

"Dean...uncle wants us both.." there was a grumble as the covers pulled over that blond head. "He says its important...he needs to talk to us." a muffled groan and a deep sigh was his answer...finally after a few moments of cajoling him Dean got up and shuffled into the living room where the dark haired man sat waiting. With a hand he gestured towards the couch where both boys plopped down and stared at him...Rich took a deep breath as he rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness...Deans voice squeaked high for a moment when he voiced a ~ what going on?~ it seemed this talk was coming at the right time for both.

" First thing I wanted to tell you both is my job as a mechanic has given me enough money saved up that I think I can buy us a small house and give you both your own room. The second thing and really the main reason for this is I realized it was time to have a talk with you both since I have noticed some changes occurring in both of you lately. I want you both to realize that your bodies are about to be going through a lot of changes soon and this may scare you or make you uncomfortable while it goes on...you don't have to be scared or embarrassed for what is happening to your bodies is perfectly natural. You may have already noticed that your voice is changing..how one moment it may seem normal and the next it goes high...how you seem to be more upset over things than you did before or how you may feel tired more than you used to." he saw them shaking their heads which gave him encouragement to go on with his speech. " This is what we call puberty..it means you are starting on your path to becoming a man and eventually one day you will be able to father children." Richard began to talk all about the changes that will occur to them using clinical terms in his discomfort...not noticing how their eyes glazed over at all he said....finally when it seemed he was winding down their eyes tried to focus once more. " Now because of these changes that are going on in your bodies you will find yourself having feelings...urges you might say that you seem to have a hard time making go away. So to spare you both from this I've decided it's about time to separate you two so you have your own space..your own bed. . Now do either of you have any questions for me?"he waited as he saw some confusion on one and a thoughtful look on the other...it was Aid who spoke first...to Dean who still looked a bit confused.

"I understand now why he wants us in separate rooms." Dean looked at his friend with hope on clearing this up for him...Richard allowed his nephew to try and explain as he sipped on his coffee." It's because if we sleep in the same bed together then one of us will get pregnant." his voice sounded jubilant that he figured it all out and could explain to his best buddy...his joy was slightly tarnished by his uncle sputtering and choking on his drink. Maybe he should have spoken in a more grownup way judging by his uncles reactions...maybe used different words for Dean..maybe Dean was still to young to hear this? "Well you know..its as uncle says..when two people who love each other get together they show their love and poof you have a baby." his smile was big, thinking he explained it better now as Dean reached over to give his bestie a thank you hug.Aidan was so proud of himself that he was now becoming a man and soon he will be able to protect his friend better because real men do that for their loved ones ...brown eyes seeing Richard place his head in his hands groaning loudly as he spoke to himself.

"Oh my lord Anna...what have you left me with?" shaking his head he began to chuckle ..then his laughter grew louder and his head threw back as Aids words really sunk in..tears began to run down his face at the absurdity of it all. After a few moments he was able to calm himself down to low chuckling as he gestured with his hand for them to listen to him. Richard tried again to explain, but this time he realized he needed to explain the differences between men and women..he hoped this time he did it right.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It was a few days later when he got a call from his best friend Lee on the phone. The three of them were getting ready to head over to the rehab facility to visit with Deans mom, Starla, who seemed to be struggling still with her substance problem, when the ringing of the phone made Richard pause as he put on his shoes he looked over and saw it was Lee on the ID. Remembering the incident a few days ago he began to chuckle as he quickly picked up the line and answered ...still chuckling.

"Hey Lee. How you doing? Fine..everything fine here. Dean? Yeah he's good...so is Aid. Speaking of those two, you won't believe what they told me a few days ago..." he laughed a little harder..." did you know that men can get other men pregnant when they sleep together?" there was sputtering on the other end...Richard laughed harder. "Yeah...it seems both boys are starting puberty and I had the talk with them..well somewhere I guess I got them confused about where babies come from and how they are made." there was snorting on the other end and he flushed brightly...very glad Lee couldn't see over the phone at how mortifying it was that he had bombed such a important topic." I swear if Anna had been here she would have explained this a whole lot better than I...ugghhh..Lee it was a disaster. I'm not sure if they think babies come from the stork..from snuggling with someone or from Wendy's." a choked ~WENDY'S?~ came out from the man. "Uhh..yeah. I tried to use diagrams using lids, straws, and a cup holder from our frosties we got at Wendy's the night before...not a good move on my...will you shut up..it's not that funny." Richard wasn't mad...even he couldn't help laughing at it all.

"That was funny Rich. I've got to tell Liv about this when she gets home this evening. I wish I had been there to see that." he snickered a bit again.

"So, you and Liv are still good? Great. Well Lee.. I love talking to you but we have to go or we will be late. We're about to run out the door and go see Deans mom for his appointed visits with her, so I need..." his voice trailed off as he heard what Lee had to say...Rich felt his legs starting to give out under him as he listened to his friends words. "Oh my lord Lee...are you sure? No..she doesn't need to come..I'll tell him. Yeah , I've got this..I need to be the one who tells him. Ok Lee...i'll talk to you later...I know I will need it. Bye." Richard hung up the phone and shakily drew his hand across his face...he could hear the boys laughing in the other room. Slowly he stood up and made his way into the living room..calling Dean into the room who came running in with Aidan on his tail...both playfully shoving each other...until they saw his serious face and they stopped to stare at him. "Dean. Please sit down..we need to talk...it's about your mother." He watched as both boys sat down..he didn't stop Aidan from sitting with Dean...as he talked to the young boy he saw a tear slip from his eye and Aidan reached over to wrap an arm around Deans shoulder in comfort. Richard sat there for a moment and saw how Dean turned to bury his face into the dark haired boys shoulder as he sobbed...Richard felt a tear from his own eye steal down his face at the heartbreaking scene before him and getting up he went and took both boys into his arms..holding them close as they shared their grief together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was later that evening whenever the three of them settled down for the night...all three knowing that when the morning light came things would be hard again...between having to deal with the funereal arrangements for Starla...the paperwork that would make Richard the permanent guardian of Dean...and anything else that needed to be dealt with. Richard was tucking both boys into bed when Dean's voice cracked as he tried to talk...his grief still strong.

"Rich... I don't understand. Why did she do it? She was so close to being clean where we could be a family again. Why did she kill herself?" Dean was trying to keep himself from crying again..his eyes were sore from his bout earlier in the day. Richard let out a weary breath as he softly stroked the blond hair in soothing motions....not knowing how to answer Dean.

"Neither do I Dean..neither do I. I don't know why she did it...she had so much waiting for her here. A beautiful son who loves her...If it was me I would have done anything to be able to come home to you both. I would have done anything and everything to be back with you both." Dean gave him a watery smile and turned over to face the wall opposite from them....Aidan snuggled to Deans back and hugged him tight to him as Dean began to softly cry again. Richard stood up and left the boys alone..knowing sleep wouldn't be making a long visit on this night for any of them and he went to call his own supporters...Lee and Liv.


	4. Ch.3 HIGH SCHOOL YEARS (PART 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:new brunswick high school years ( home of the zebras-blue/white)(uniforms required) For their high school experience they will be :(Aid: 14-18) (Dean: 15-19) (Evangeline: 14-18)(orlando:15-19*meets them his sophmore year thru college)

~5 YEARS LATER~

Dawn was peeking over the horizon on this early morning of late August...its golden rays swept down the streets , illuminating the homes of this peaceful subdivision...waking the residents up from their restful slumber. In one of the homes the sounds of boots thumping on the stairs could be heard along with shouts of excitement echoing throughout the 2-story brick home. In another room in the home a loud groan could be heard from a lump in the large bed...dragging covers up higher to block out the noise the inhabitants within were making.

Dean mumbled in aggravation at the noise Aidan was making as he ran up and down the stairs..whooping in his excitement about their first day of high school being today. With a growl at the door he tugged his blanket up higher to cover his head in an attempt to block out the ruckus the other boy was making. He probably would have stayed under that blanket if it wasn't for the delicious scent of breakfast wafting in the air making him stick out his nose to sniff the air...his stomach grumbled at him in telling him he needed to hurry and feed it. Snarling down at the traitorous part of his body he threw back his covers and sat up ...rubbing his hand down his face to wipe away the sleep that tried to pull him back under once again. Suddenly there was a loud knock on his door startling him out of his daze along with a deep shout from the other side.

"Hey Deano..wake up! Uncle almost has breakfast ready and we need to hurry to get to school." as Dean glared at the door he heard the younger boy rush off again with a squeak of ~ Gosh..I almost forgot my ..." then the voice was gone and the sounds of slamming door could be heard from the other room. Slowly he drew himself up off the bed to amble his way to the bathroom he shared with Aidan to relieve himself quickly so he could get ready for the new day...Dean barely registered the clothes he was pulling on...the dark blue cargo pants , paired with a light blue polo with the school name on the front...otherwise known as the school uniform they were allowed to where to this school. It didn't take him long to pull on the outfit ...but trying to smooth his unruly golden waves was another thing all together...his hair just kept trying to stick up so with a frustrated sigh he wet it down and slicked it back, which worked for now.

Dean made his way back into his room and saw his memory box sitting open on the dresser... a folded letter peeking out of it that brought back an old memory of his. As he stared at the letter there his thoughts flowed back to the fateful day when he found out about his mother overdosing herself on drugs and thus dying from it...leaving him all alone in this world with no family and no home to call his own. Thankfully there was Richard and Aidan to take him in permanently ...providing him with a family and a home he needed so desperately in this time of his life. It took little time for the papers to be drawn up and signed ...making Richard Armitage his legal guardian and caretaker permanently. Richard gave Dean the option of being adopted by him and taking his last name or becoming his ward where he retained his last name....Dean chose becoming his ward. Richard respected Deans wishes even though it made things a bit harder because of the issue of last names, but Richard gave him a reassured smile and dealt with it without any complaints..ever.Dean stood there gazing at the letter when a roar from downstairs jerked him away from his thoughts and sent him dashing out the bedroom door towards the kitchen.

"Dean! Aid! Get your butts down here for breakfast! We're going to be late for the first day you two!" Dean rounded the corner being followed quite closely by Aidan on his heels...as they raced down the stairs they jostled each other as they laughed loudly..then skidding into the kitchen to be greeted by Richards smile at the two of them rough housing. With loud thumps they both dropped into their chairs ...still laughing and good natured rough housing as he served breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast to them. "Alright you two...eat up. We don't have much time before we leave for school. I'm taking you both today to drop you off...you'll catch the bus home today and from here on out." both boys nodded as they scarfed down their food...occasionally there was a scuffle of hands reaching for the last bacon slice...Richard's hand was faster as he snatched it out from under their fingers...their loud protestations ringing out , making him smile as he chomped away on his meaty loot. "Enough...clean up quickly while I finish getting ready for work." he clapped his hands to stall any more grumbling from them. "Come on ...chop chop." with that everyone cleared the table and readied to run out the door...excitement in the air at the start of the new chapter in their lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The school grounds was bustling like a mad house as its various students scurried around the grounds, calling out names of friends they had missed as they tried to catch up on all the juicy gossip that had occurred over the summer break they spent apart. There was some that didn't bound about with enthusiasm like most did as they wandered around aimlessly in search of a familiar face that could offer some form of comfort to them in this new uncharted chapter in their young lives. As they migrated around in anxious assembly a pair of males of opposite coloring, one of dark curls and the other light, moved with assured and buoyant steps into the large building...both excited about entering the institution of vast learning before them. Their eyes were filled with hope and excitement as they smiled ear from ear...neither letting the morose or panic of the others dampen their elation to be here.

"Dean! Look at this!" Aidan dragged Dean over to a trophy case that read " HOME OF THE ZEBRA" ...where vast trophy's decorated the many glass shelves that greeted everyone who entered the door of New Brunswick High School. There seemed to be an endless amount of blue ribbons and medals decorating the glass case that herald the school's notoriety of being one of the best establishments around. Aidan watched as Dean pressed his nose to the glass in awe as he gazed at the multitudes of medals of honor... those brown eyes twinkled in merriment at the sight of his best friend gawking at the schools multitudes of accomplishments through the many years. As they both stared at the case suddenly a body crashed into Aidans...knocking books and bags to the ground as he quickly reached out to stop the other person from following along with them as dark red flashed across his vision for a moment.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry. Please forgive me." Aidan stabilized himself and the other before getting a good glimpse of this newcomer. It was a girl who stood slightly lower than him with dark red dyed hair and green eyes that began to glitter with tears in them at how clumsy she was. Aidan was momentarily shocked at how cute she was and his mouth went dry as he floundered briefly for words to say...it was Dean who rescued him as he quickly smacked Aidan on the back of his head which elicited a giggle out of her.

"Nothing to forgive there..no harm, no foul I say." Dean smiled largely at her which seemed to ease the poor girl's nervousness. "My name is Dean O'Gorman and this nutter is my best mate Aidan Turner. And you would be?" she blushed a little bit before regaining her composer..then quickly she held out her hand to Dean first to shake his , then Aidan's who's palms seemed to be sweaty from stressing about talking to a pretty girl for the first time. Dean knew Aidan was very uncomfortable with his looks since middle school...he looked gangly and awkward with his to long limbs that he was still growing into to...then there was the dark un-tamable curls on his head that try as he might would never settle down, always looking like he was plugged into one of those plasma sphere balls one gets as a way to entertain company and children alike. For the past 3 years Aidan was teased by other kids for this...but over the summer Aidan finally came into his own...more pulled together in looks...less gawky. The legs that seemed to be to stretched were still long but now they seemed to fit on his frame better...the electric style hair was finally restrained into loose curls that trailed down to his shoulders in a bit of slicked back style. All of this made a very good looking package for the start of a new year...but Aidan still was used to being the spidery geek that hid behind a book to avoid interactions with others that seemed determined to ridicule anyone who wasn't perfect.

"Hello. My name is Evangeline...but you can call me Angel if you want." she seemed a bit shy as she glanced at both boys there...waiting for a reaction from the dark one who still held onto her hand. "Uhmmm...sir...may I have my hand back...please. I think I'm going to need it so I can write notes for my classes." Dean began to laugh at how cheeky this girl was towards Aidan who began to stammer and blush in embarrassment as he quickly let go of her hand.

"I..I am so sorry miss Angel....I...I..." she saved him from making a fool of himself as she giggled and replied back with Dean's earlier remark to her.

"No harm, no foul..right?" with a sweet smile that evoked one of his own he rubbed the back of his neck shyly..looking down and seeing both of their stuff still on the floor.

"Right. Here let me help you pick up your stuff you dropped." with a nod they both hunkered down to gather their various items from the floor, being joined and aided by Dean ...making quick work of it as they chatted away. From that moment on these three became inseparable...always found gathered together ,with the exception of different classes, eating, playing, or pouring over homework at one anothers home in the afternoons...eventually earning the moniker from their families as the three Musketeers...always there for each other. No one realized how true this was until one day this name sake was challenged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TIME SKIP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a little over seven months since these three met and in that time alot had occurred to them, Aidan and Angel began to date a few months after that first day... Aidan was sweet as he gave her flowers and chocolates on Valentines day..sitting with her at the movies...or going out for milkshakes after school let out....always with their shadow, Dean. For some reason, even though they were dating they always included Dean in their plans for whatever they did...both voicing how it felt wrong to leave Dean behind...how incomplete their group felt without him. To anyone who was watching them it all would seem like an odd configuration, since technically two of them were a pair and the other should have been considered a third wheel...but neither of them felt like that so they blithely ignored the whispers as they kept on with their relationships.

It was March before the dynamics of their relationship altered into something else...evolving to a different level. It was around then that Dean began to realize that he was not like the other boys, most boys showing interest in their female counterparts...not Dean though, his eyes seemed to follow the same boys that were following the girls. When he went to his foster dad, Richard, to talk about this, the man smiled as he told Dean that he was most likely was gay and not straight like the other boys around. Richard and then Aidan both reassured Dean that he was perfectly fine and there wasn't anything wrong him...they loved him still and accepted him as he is... that was all Dean needed to hear, and felt relief that everything would be alright still at home...school was different matter it seemed.

The day was bright and clear as the P.E class ran or walked laps around the track under the watchful eye of Coach Thomas who brown eyes were hard and angry like as they gazed upon each student in his class. This was one of the classes that the Three Musketeers shared everyday where they could be perpetually found teaming up with one another as they traded friendly banter back and forth to the exclusion of others around. Aidan and Angel were walking around the track as they waited for Dean to join them so they could run, because he had stopped for a moment to retie his shoe laces that had come undone shortly ago. As Dean was kneeling down next to the edge of the bleachers to tie his shoes he felt someone grab the back of his shirt as he let out a frightened yelp and drag him towards the back of the large stairway that blocked the field from prying eyes. He stumbled for a moment before he gained his footing again to look at his assailant...wishing he hadn't for there stood the school bullies, Cecil Mills, and his groupies Shaw, Webb, and Fischer.

Dean was scared of these four because since the start as a Freshman these four had taken it upon themselves to torture and bully Dean and a few other Freshman over the last few months. They were known to take other students lunch money, shoes...find some way to mortify the poor individual that the kid was left in tears. There was a rumor that they had humiliated one kid so bad that he had committed suicide to escape...no one stopped them from doing this..it was like some teachers turned a blind eye to what these four did...allowing it to happen on their watch, just blatantly ignoring the pain that was inflicted upon the innocents of the school. Cecil and his buddies had ignored Dean's existence up until a month ago when somehow they discovered he was gay...it started off first where they would stick gum in his seat as he was sitting down...then evolving into tripping him as he walked past them in class where he would bang his knee or a shin as they whispered out ~Faggot~. Dean covered up the bruises and kept quiet about what they were doing, to Aidan and Angel...not wanting either of them to become a target themselves...so he kept this all a secret to protect his friends. Only recently did these hooligans turn their terrorizing ways into something darker...they threatened Dean everyday with if he didn't hand over his lunch money to them then they would hurt one of his friends in retaliation as a object lesson on obedience to your superiors. Normally they cornered him in the bathroom or empty hallway where no one could see what they were doing...guess today they decided they got impatient and decided to start harassing him early, well Dean had a surprise that was surely going to disappoint these four today.

As they gathered around Dean with vicious smirks on their faces he stood facing them with defiance on his..trying to mask his fear he felt inside as he faced them down. Cecil's acne pocked face just grinned at Dean's posture as if he found it funny that a mere Freshman decided to stand up to him...with a short barking laugh as he scratched his chin he spoke in a voice that sounded like a braying jackass.

"It looks like the twinkie boy wants to play with us men. If you are smart ...FAG... then you will just hand over your lunch money and everything will be fine. If you don't then..." his voice trailed off as he looked at his friends then back at Dean...they all chuckled cruelly. " You won't be the only one who suffers this time. Your friends will be joining you ....in a very ...painful way." Dean gritted his teeth in anger but still refused to bow down to these bullies....with a gusty sigh Cecil shook his head in annoyance. "Fine. Have it your way freshie...just know your friends will be joining you by the end of the day." with those chilling words the four thugs advanced upon Dean...a small inaudible whimper clawed at his chest to be let out, but he held his ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aidan and Angel were making their second pass upon the track when suddenly Aidan noticed Dean wasn't where he last saw him....glancing around quickly to see if he could spot a glimmering mop of blonde curls, none was in sight. Aidan stopped in his tracks to peer about, worry gnawing at him when he didn't see Dean anywhere, Angel turned around to come back to him to see why he stopped suddenly.

"Aid? What's wrong? Why did you stop?" she saw panic begin to enter upon his face...the sight of it made her begin to worry also.

"It's Dean. I can't find him. He was right there several minutes ago. Now..." He held out his hands to the side in a stumped gesture as he kept glancing around...Angel began to do the same. With a breath of vexation they both made their way over to where they last saw Dean, drawing closer to the stadium corner as apprehension swirled in their guts as they neared the spot. Aidan stood there for a few moments looking at the ground for any sign,when the faint sounds of pain reached his ears...it sounded like someone was being hit. Swiftly he took Angel's hand letting his feet carry him close to where the cries of agony were coming from, he guided her along behind him as they made their way to the back of the bleachers. As they turned the corner they saw Dean being held down on the ground by a couple of older boys while two others were pounding and kicking away on him as Dean's pain filled cries echoed around. With a shout that startled the older boys,Aidan let go of Angel's hand and raced over to Dean who was doubled over on the ground now since he was let go by his assailants. Aidan's shout must have alerted someone close by on the field because suddenly another young boy, a sophmore known as Orlando AKA- Andy, came running towards where the commotion was coming from with a practice archery bow in his hands. He was tall and lanky looking with brown hair and brown eyes that were wide in surprise at what he saw. Without any pause he joined Aidan and Angel in protecting the blonde on the ground as he faced off with these goons...the two that dropped the kid came at him and he used the bow to smack one upside the head where he fell to the ground clutching his stinging cheek. Those brown eyes saw the other coming at him with outrage on his face at what he did to his crony... without a pause the new comer looped his bow string onto the back of the thugs head to pull back and then let it go where the wood frame smacked his attacker into the face...breaking the nose upon contact. Orlando finally turned his eyes away from the writhing pair before him to glance at the other two who were dealing with their own foes...one in particular caught his eyes. She was a beautiful young girl with dark brown hair showing at the roots and tips still showing the red dye she used at the beginning of the school year...her eyes were flashing like green fire at her own opponent in anger as she wielded a stick she found close by at her foe...she looked like a Valkyrie from the days of old to him and he was entranced by her.

Angel felt a brief moment of relief at the sight of the new comer but her attention was captured by the guy who was helping to beat up Dean moments ago...he wasn't very big and if she didn't know better about his personality he may have been kinda cute...but to her he was hideous from the inside out. The guy advanced on her and she quickly swung her stick she had found off to the side near Dean...connecting with his ribs and making the older male bark out in pain from the force of her hit that she knew would leave a nasty bruise in the morning. He stumbled away from her vicious swing and decided she was not worth fighting as he ran off...stopping for a second to gather his other two friends off the ground where they all three retreated away from Dean's protectors. The stranger drew closer to her with his hands held up before him in peace...giving him a smile she lowered her weapon and quickly knelt down next to Dean who was curled up on the ground whimpering in pain.

Aidan saw Cecil drawing back his foot for one last kick as Aidan barreled towards the bully, then with a roar of anger Aidan tackled Cecil before his foot connected with his prone friend. Both boys rolled on the ground for a moment...both trying to overpower the other...until finally one became the victor as Aidan sat on Cecil's stomach. What the dark haired boy didn't anticipate was Cecil slamming his fist into Aidan's face and propelling the younger boy off of him where he jumped up and escaped away from the trio gathered around the injured boy.

Suddenly Orlando bent onto his knees next to Dean as he quickly examined the injured boy with his eyes...seeing that the kid was hurt pretty bad he jumped back up with ~stay right here...I'll get help~ then he disappeared the way he had arrived. Aidan and Angel were both scared to moved Dean, afraid of causing more harm to him if they did, so they waited for Orlando to return...both praying he was quick about it. Dean's body was littered with multiple bruises along his frame...blood trickled from a cut above his eye and from the corners of his mouth where his lip was split from the blows he received. It wasn't long before their prayers were answered for a few minutes later Orlando came running back to them with one of the other coaches, Coach Miranda Otto, trailing behind him. Her auburn hair was held back in a tail to keep it out of her face, swaying back and forth against her blue and white uniform...her blue eyes were narrowed in anger at the sight of Dean's bruised body as she dropped down next to the groaning boy. Slowly she trailed her fingers along his limbs, checking him over for any broken bones, breathing out a sigh of relief when she found nothing broken she deemed it alright for him to sit up and slowly with the coaxing of his friends she helped him to sit upright. 

"Miss Otto...is he going to be alright?" Orlando's concern for the young boy was sweet and touching to the others...she nodded her head at him as she bestowed him with a smile.

"Yes Andy. He will be fine after we get him to the nurse to bandage him up. Thank you for getting me." her voice was strong and melodic to the ears. Her eyes kept scanning over the young boy, glancing occasionally over at the other two students who obviously were his friends, seeing one of them, a dark haired boy that made her glance a little bit longer at him. Her eyes focused upon him , seeing a dark bruise forming on his right cheek from obviously being punched in the face, it was his brown eyes that drew her attention the most...they were filled with terror and pain for his friend. Taking a deep breath she laid a hand upon his shoulder to calm him down enough and then she spoke to him. "He will be fine, he just needs help to the nurses office to be checked over by her. So please can you help me get him up so we can take him?" just that fast she had three helpers who all practically carried the young boy to the Nurse's Office where he was quickly cleaned up of blood and tucked away under a blanket as his guardian, Mr. Armitage, was called to come and get him. While Dean was being treated , Miranda gathered the three children to her and asked what happened...the tale they revealed made her furious at how long those boys got away with this behavior...it spoke volumes of negligence on behalf of some of the staff. Taking deep calming breaths she assured the kids that it will be fine and left to go have a talk with Principle Kircher about this...it was high time something was done to correct this problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the nurse's office the three valiant defenders hung around to make sure Dean was comfortable before they went back to class...Orlando noticed , after Miss Otto had talked to them, she ran off and left them alone in the room. His eyes noticed how Aidan and Angel held hands and he knew they were more than just friends, with a heavy sigh he resigned himself to not going to be able to date the girl...but maybe, just maybe they could at least be friends also. His thoughts were disturbed as the young girl stepped close to him , leaving the dark haired boy to sit gently onto the bed next to the blond where he softly stroked back the hairs that obscured his blue eyes.

"Hey, thanks for helping us back there. My name's is Angel" she held out her hand which he took into his own...feeling how soft and slender it was.

"Orlando, but most call me Andy. It was not a problem at all. I knew those four...they've been nothing but trouble since the beginning of last year....Juniors I think. Well I couldn't let them do that to you three...it wasn't right at all. I wish someone had stood up to them last year when I started here...it would have been nice. The only thing that saved me from them is I joined the archery club almost instantly and them being cowards that they are...they hate groups, only going after those who are alone, guess it makes it easier on them to bully others. You know, if you three want to escape from these kinds of people, you may want to join a club also. I found there is safety in numbers here..." he noticed the sudden interest in three pairs of eyes and he continued " You know...Miss coach Otto is holding tryouts for both the archery club and the cheerleader squad next month..in case you are interested. She is a good teacher...very strict but she encourages us in bettering ourselves...never makes any of us feel embarrassed if we are not great at this. Maybe you three should give it a try...it will be fun and if anything you would have at least one friend on the team...me, that is if you want to be friends." he smiled nervously for a few moments, but he should not have worried, because the smiles he got in return- ecstatically by two and less joyous because of the pain he felt- let him know he was openly accepted by them. With a soft gasp from Angel she laughed in chagrin as she pointed to both of the boys quickly.

"I'm so sorry. That's Aidan and Dean." in that moment they could feel a bond growing between them...it looked like the three musketeers just became four musketeers...Orlando was hoping he was the D'Artagnan or Artemis of the group...knowing he would look dashing as one of those men.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*TIME SKIP*

Richard Armitage stomped his way into the school's office, anger evident in each step, and over to the receptionist station where stood a young woman with auburn hair and flashing blue eyes in the school's uniform colors ,that regarded him with a steady gaze as he approached. She raised an eyebrow at him...those blue eyes took in the mechanics uniform he wore...the way his black hair was pulled back into a messy man bun...his blue eyes widened briefly at the strength he saw in her own blues and he slowed his steps down.

"I am Mr. Armitage. I received a call that Dean was hurt. Where is he so I can see him?" he crossed his arms as he looked around for either of the boys...knowing Aidan wouldn't be far away from Dean's side...seeing the woman slowly step closer to him.

"So glad you came Mr. Armitage. I'm Miss Otto, one of the coaches here at New Brunswick high. I know you want to see your nephew, but would you please come to the Principles office where we can all talk?" she saw he wanted to argue. " Please. It's very important that you do and Dean is a sleep currently right now." with a narrowing of his eyes he begrudgingly agreed. They made their way to a large room that had diplomas in beautiful wooden frames upon the walls and sitting below them at a ornate and sturdy desk sat a older man with salt and pepper hair and hazel eyes that peered intently at him and Miss Otto as they entered and sat down in some chairs pulled up in front of the desk.

"So glad you came Mr. Armitage. I am Mr. Kircher, the principle of New Brunswick High school. Now I know you want to see your nephews but this is important and will not take long. Thank you for coming." as Richard and Miranda took their seats with trepidation at what would be revealed today. As both Mr. Kircher and Miss. Otto spoke Richard went through a multitude of emotions..first anger, then shock, then fear for his nephew and charge...he felt an itch for this meeting to come to an end so he could see with his own eyes that both boys were okay. "Mr. Armitage. I wanted to assure you that this will be dealt with very quickly and in a decisive manner. We are expelling all four boys from this school, we have already informed the law , a Mr. McTavish ,about their actions and we are prepared to support you and the students if you wish to press charges of assault." Richard could see that Mr. Kircher meant every word he spoke and was going to support any decision the family wished to pursue on this matter.

"Thank you Mr. Kircher. I appreciate that and will let you know what we decide after I talk to my boys first." Standing up Richard quickly shook the man's hand and moved to follow Miss. Otto out the door as she led him to where the group was gathered in the Nurse's office.

"Mr. Armitage." Miranda spoke before they entered. "Can I offer a suggestion to you?" he grunted for her to continue. "Well...I think it would be good for the children if they join a sport or a club...it would offer them a support system when teachers aren't looking and help build confidence that would make them less of a target to people like this." he stood there at the door and pondered over her words for a moment...then gave her a nod.

"I'll think about it and ask them. Thank you for the suggestion Miss Otto." he turned and went in...leaving her to go back to her duties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*AIDAN*

The Nurse's Office was white and sterile looking all around to Aidan's young brown eyes as he watched his best friend for the longest time of his life, just laying under a dark blue sheet as he shivered slightly with the occasional whimper leaving his lips from the pain along his body. Seeing him lying there so beaten stirred something inside of him...creating a feeling of helplessness and a need to protect Dean from anything. Sitting there next to Dean on the small bed, he would tenderly stroke the young mans brow and whisper soft words of comfort that he would hear as his mind rolled around in chaos...till eventually like a sharp ray of light a thought came into focus. The only way Aidan knew to stop this feeling of helplessness was to learn how to fight...maybe then he would feel strong enough to protect Dean from any harm. He knew he would have to talk to Uncle Rich about taking classes and maybe Andy was right...maybe if they joined a team then there was another layer of protection..especially for Dean. Aidan leaned down close to Dean's ears and softly whispered so he could hear him.

"Don't you worry Dean-O...I'll make you safe again. trust in me mate..you will be safe once more." he barely saw the small smile upon the blonde's lips before the door to the office opened to reveal his uncle standing there...a dark cloud of anger at the sight of Dean's injuries washed over him as the older man stepped in...then without even pausing he scooped up both boys into his arms to hold close to his chest...whispers of apologies spilled from the man's lips as tears formed in those blue eyes. After a few moments Aidan leaned away and peered into his Uncle's eyes..a serious look was within those brown depths. "Uncle...I want to take a martial arts class if we can afford it. I want to know how to protect D..us better from low life's like today. Please Uncle Rich." Richard stared at his nephew for a few moments...seeing the sincerity there within and with a subdued nod he agreed on it.

"Yes...I think that would be wise for the both of you. I also think it would be wise if you join a club or team. Miss Otto has given me a few suggestions that we will talk about later after I get you both home." he let go of Aidan and gently scooped up Dean into his arms...carrying him to his car where he could take him to the doctor as soon as possible to make sure Dean was fine. As he turned around to leave he noticed Angel standing off to the side with another boy...both looking at him with concern. " Angel..are you okay?" she nodded and he sighed in relief that she wasn't hurt. "Good. Thank you for being here for both of them...both of you , thank you. I will see you later after we see the doc. Aidan or Dean will give you a call soon." then he was gone out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*ANGEL*

Angel watched as Richard toted Dean out of the office, his concern and love for the boy was very evident by the way he leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead before they were gone out the door. She knew the love the man had for her two friends because she has seen the same look in her own brother, David, eyes....but there was something else she saw in Aidan's eyes as he sat next to Dean on the bed earlier...something she could not put a finger on. With a shrug of her shoulders she decided to not think about it to much right now...right now she had other things to occupy her mind like how was she going to explain to David she got into a fight at school...he would be so disappointed in her but hopefully he would understand. A soft cough reminded her that she was not alone in the room and her eyes quickly moved over to where Andy was still leaning on the wall, looking at her with a smile on his face.

"You looked like your mind had flown off for a moment there, figured it needed to be caught and put back into its cage again so you can study once more." she laughed softly and saw a blush steal across his cheeks for a second before he looked away. Again there was a feeling of something teasing along her mind that she could not place as she saw him blushing slightly...it made her feel warm inside like nothing ever did, then she let it go for the time being to think upon later when she could. Right now, she had another problem to deal with, like her brother who had just shown up by the sounds of his voice out in the hallway coming closer. Giving a small smile to Andy she squared her shoulders and waited for David to enter...hoping he would not be to upset with her for she really hated to disappoint him, after all he worked so hard to take care of her even after the death of their parents many years ago. The door eased open and there on the other side stood David with his soft auburn hair looking in disarray and those blue-green eyes gazing at her in worry. Before she could utter a apology to him she found herself swept up in a hug in his arms as he spoke softly in her hair where he had buried his face in.

"Oh thank God you're safe. I heard what happened and thought the worst when I heard one of you was injured." he leaned away to look into her eyes as if he was visually checking her over for harm. " I raced over here as fast as I could and saw Richard with Dean in his arms. He told me he was okay and how you stood up to those degenerates." he turned his head and saw the young man over by the wall trying to not watch the touching scene between brother and sister...wrapping an arm around Angel's shoulders he drug her over to Andy to place his hand on his arm in a friendly gesture. " I also heard how you helped my sister and I give you my deepest thank you for being there for her. She is all I have left in this world. Angel is my most precious treasure in this world. So thank you...." he smiled at the young man as he waited for him to fill in with his name.

"Andy sir...and I am relieved that I heard Aidan's shout otherwise I wouldn't have heard anything at all." he returned David's smile. " For something awful to have happened, in a small way it was a good thing. I got to meet Angel, Aidan and Dean." David chuckled at the young boy as he gave Angel a quick squeeze.

" Yeah...they are something. They may be a hoot to be around but I don't think anyone could do better with them as friends. They always have your back." he peered down fondly on Angel who began to become embarrassed at the words of praise. "Well, I think it is time to go...nice to meet you Andy. Hopefully we will be seeing more of you around." shaking hands David and Angel walked out the door away from where Andy stood having to wait on one of his own parents to pick him up....but they didn't get far before he heard David's remark to his sister who sputtered at him.

"I like him Ang. He is adorable and polite. I think he likes you...maybe date you."

"Dave! I have a boyfriend...Aidan."

"Yeah Ang. I love him too, but I have been watching you three lately and I have seen the way he looks at Dean too. I just have this feeling that in a coin toss someone is going to lose in the end. Think on my words." then there was silence as they moved past Andy's hearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~TIME SKIP-SUMMER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed from Spring into the Summer and over the course of its passing things changed for the four musketeers as all things must do with time. Angel and Aidan both took Andy's advice and tried out for the archery team which surprising them they found they had a talent for it. They quickly found themselves being wrapped up into a welcoming embrace of like minded people who loved this sport very much. A side effect of this welcoming closeness, Aidan saw Angel and Andy were becoming closer...which should have created hard feelings between both boys, but for some reason it didn't...it felt right, felt natural to him for these two to be close. Another thing that changed for Aidan was he began to also take lessons in Taekwondo , which really invigorated him inside like archery did. Eventually, like all good things it must come to an end some time and it happened during Summer. Dean decided to pursue gymnastics so he could join the cheer squad instead of archery, since he had no skill what so ever in that department, next year...so when it came time for tryouts Dean was one of the participants, hoping to make the grade into the squad. Aidan and Angel both were in the bleachers watching as each candidate stepped forward to present themselves, waiting for Dean's turn where they would cheer him on, when Angel finally turned to Aidan..a hesitant look on her face as she sat there next to him.

"Aidan." he made a sound that he was listening as he watched Dean stretching off to the side in his warm ups before he had to present himself to the judging board. " I have been thinking....about you and I." he turned to look at her...he had a feeling where this was going, he has felt it for awhile now. " I noticed every time we get together we are always with Dean...we never are just us two...it is always the three or four of us." his brow furrowed a bit and he felt slightly miffed at what it sounded like she was implying.

"Are you saying you don't want Dean around?" she could see he was getting his hackles up and before he could she had to stop it before it blew out of portion.

"No, no, no...Aidan. I'm not saying that at all. I love being around Dean...alot. I'm just saying I've noticed that we whenever you and i do something it is always with Dean too. We have never done the couple like things that boyfriends and girlfriends do...and.... I find myself not feeling like i'm missing that in the slightest. I love spending time with you both very much and I can't see doing something with just one of you without the other...It feels like you are more of my brother than a boyfriend and i don't want to lose that at all." she saw he turned away to stare at the floor, lost in thought...she pushed on to finish what she had to say before losing her nerve. "I think what I am saying Aid..is we should stop being boyfriend/girlfriend and just be friends." she waited for him to think, knowing he needed time to process his feelings.

Aidan sat there thinking on her words and he knew she was right. Since they had decided to date one another they always included Dean into their plans without question...like it was unnatural for them to do so. He scanned his mind over and over and realized they didn't act like a couple but as best friends...and the shocking part he realized was he didn't mind their relationship being like that. Angel was right...they were friends and not each others sweethearts ...slowly he looked back up at her and saw her worrying her lip in fear of what he had to say.

"You're right Ang. We do act less like a couple and more like friends. A part of me wants to be hurt about this..but I don't...I know I still have you as my friend."a light of relief filled her eyes as he reached over and took her hand into his own...both could feel the love between them but both understanding it was one of a brother/sister would have for the other. "I guess this is where we break up with each other." she sighed and nodded...he gave her hand a squeeze as he smiled at her. " Then okay...I Aidan Turner officially break up with you , Evangeline Lilly, and instead take you as my Best Friend for life. Do you accept?" she snickered at how formal he was being before she straightened up and gave it the seriousness it deserved.

"I do. I Evangeline Lilly officially break up with you, Aidan Turner, and instead take you as my Best Friend for life. Do you accept?" somehow she kept a straight face through it.

"I do." he let go of her hand and hooked his pinky finger with hers. "i now pronounce us as Best Friends for life. We may now hug our best friend for life." with a laugh of joy they both hugged each other tightly...noticing out of the corner of their eye they saw Dean stepping up to the judging panel as he looked up , giving them a wave which they returned with a loud hoot of encouragement and a thumbs up. As they watched Dean going through the motions to impress the other cheerleaders with a beginners skill Aidan glanced over with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"So. Ang. Is there a certain brown haired ,brown eyed guy I'm going to have to have" The Talk" with about how to treat my best friend and what will happen if he screws up?" his only answer was a vivid blush staining her cheeks as she quickly stood up to let out a shrill whistle at Dean who executed a perfect back flip. Aidan chuckled at her answer as he stood himself to clap loudly at Dean.

~ Life is definitely going to be fun to watch from this point on ~


	5. CH.4 HIGH SCHOOL YEARS (PART 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: song is Hero- Enrique...Slang: gridiron-the football field****Stuntman- male cheerleader
> 
> WARNING: THIS WILL CONTAIN SOME EXPLICIT SCENE CONTENT OF NEAR RAPE, ABUSE, GAY BASHING...IF YOU CAN'T STOMACH THROUGH IT THEN JUST SKIP THIS CHAPTER. BUT KNOW ALOT HAPPENS BETWEEN DEAN AND AIDAN THAT SHOWS GROWTH IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP. SORRY IF THIS UPSETS ANYONE BUT IT HAD TO HAPPEN...REST ASSURED IT WILL ALL WORK OUT IN THE END OF THIS CHAPTER, SO DON'T PANIC IF YOU DO READ :) THANK YOU.

*YEAR 3- SEPTEMBER- Sunday*

It was early on this Sunday morning when a loud crash woke up Aidan from his peaceful slumber upon his bed where with a barely heard screech made him jerk awake and off the bed...barely catching himself before he hit the floor with his face. Gasping as he placed his hand over his pounding heart to calm it he listened to the sounds of the house trying to pinpoint the location of the sound that woke him as he quietly walked to his bedroom door to peek out. Aidan saw his uncle quickly making his way down the hall towards the stairs to the bottom floor and then voices floated up the stairs to his ears that one of them sounded like Dean's. Aidan figured Dean was the one who made the ruckus moments ago and not some burglar, so without any hesitation he slipped down the hall towards the bathroom to tend to his morning business. It didn't take him long to finish in the bathroom before he made his way downstairs towards the kitchen where he could hear Dean was puttering about...Aidan's nose luring him there with the heavenly scent of coffee in the air. As he came closer to the kitchen he saw Uncle Richard sitting in his chair in the living room reading the newspaper...the sound of Aidan yawning alerted his uncle to his presence who glanced up briefly and grinned at his still sleepy nephew as he jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen.

"Dean...He decided to make make breakfast for us this morning. Coffee is ready if you want a cup." he reached over and lifted his own cup next to him in a salute to the young boy before taking a sip of the rich mellow flavor of the dark liquid within. Aidan gave him a smile as he made his way closer to where his addiction sat at...drawing closer the sounds of Dean rehearsing a cheer for the squad could be heard which made Aidan chuckle.

"BANANA LOVERS OF THE WORLD UNITE" Dean lifted the spatula he was using to flip pancake upon the griddle up close to his mouth like a microphone as he softly mock shouted into it

"BANANA LOVERS OF THE WORLD UNITE" Dean lifted the spatula he was using to flip pancake upon the griddle up close to his mouth like a microphone as he softly mock shouted into it...then he instantly launched into a slide stepping cheer as he belted out the newest cheer the team was learning as Aidan leaned quietly against the door frame watching him. The young blond was shirtless as he moved along in his white Hawaiian style sleep pants he wore to bead...his back was to where Aidan was standing who watched him without him knowing.

"Go bananas!  
Go Go bananas!  
Go bananas!  
Go Go bananas!

peel to the left....  
peel to the right....  
peel your banana and MMM TAKE A BITE!!! "

Dean was dancing around then suddenly he stopped as he made the motions of peeling a banana with his hands along his sides as his hips swayed in time..then as he delivered the last line of the cheer he pumped his fists in front of him and thrusted his hips forward suggestively. As Aidan watched the blond swaying his hips he felt a heat blossoming upon his cheeks and a warmth to spread in his lower regions that made Aidan a bit uncomfortable...as the last line was chanted Aidan realized he was becoming aroused at the sight of Dean's sleep pants pulling taunt across his butt that swiveled in motion and the muscles along his back flexed as those blonde curls swayed side to side. Taking a gasp as heat pooled below Aidan spun around and ran for the upstairs bathroom where he slammed the door behind him to lean against it...looking down Aidan stared in shock at seeing his pants pulled tightly in front from the tent he formed in them. He knew he couldn't go back down to where everyone else was until this problem that had popped up was solved and dealt with quickly. With a groan Aidan reached down and took himself in hand ...with quick, sure strokes he brought himself to completion that made his legs tremble under him as he stayed leaning against the bathrooms door...his panting breaths filling the small room. In short order he was able to calm down his heart as confusion began to set in at what had just happened to him. Aidan stood there in shock trying to comprehend it all he realized that he had become aroused at the sight of his long time friend dancing in those tight sleep shorts he loved to wear...the way the young man moved his hips turned him on like nothing ever had before.

~What just happened? Why Dean? It's never happened before in all these years...so why now?~

As he stood there in confused contemplation there was a pounding on the door and a joyful shout from Dean on the other side of the door.

"Hey! Lazy bones! Get out here...It's breakfast time. Coffee is ready also!" Aidan gruffed out in acknowledgement that he heard Dean and the sounds of the man's steps retreated to leave Aidan alone in that room with many questions running rampant through his mind. Aidan slowly exited the bathroom to make his way to the dining room as a single thought came into focus in his mind.

~I need to speak to Angel as soon as I can. Maybe she can help me understand this feeling I have.~

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*CAFETERIA- Monday*

Aidan and Angel slowly made their way to a lone lunch table out in the corner of the courtyard off the cafeteria with their lunch trays...Aidan's face clearly showed his unease as they sat down together. He knew this was the only period that they both shared together without her Boyfriend, Andy, or Dean in it..the only time they were alone together to talk.Angel watched as Aidan played with his food on his tray without any interest in what was before him at all, lost in his thoughts, just as she was lost in hers. Yesterday, when Aidan sent a text to her of ~I need to talk to you as soon as possible please~, she had been to busy to respond beyond a quick text of ~ Busy, Fam...TTYL @ lunch..k? ~ his reply was swift with a ~ K. THX ~ so here they both sat waiting for one of them to break the silence...unable to take the awkward silence anymore Angel spoke to him..her green eyes saw him jump a tiny bit as his cheeks flushed in chagrin.

"Alright Aid. What is wrong that you needed to speak to me about? Your text sounded like you were stressed or something is seriously troubling you. So spill it Hawk Eye. What's up?" her green eyes regarded her friend as she waited for him to speak...with a deep sigh he began to tell her what happened to him yesterday morning. She listened to him speak as she held her tongue till he was finally done speaking and he hung his head as a soft laugh trickled from her lips...those brown eyes glanced up in irritation as he growled at her.

"So glad you're enjoying my misery here." with a growl he pushed his tray away and sunk his head to rest on the table.

"I'm sorry my friend. I'm not laughing because you are in pain but at how blind you can be sometimes." he looked up to glare at her but she wasn't fazed by the withering look he gave her. "Aidan...did you not once ask yourself why you and I didn't work out as a couple but better as friends?" slowly he raised his head to give her a questioning look... the answer was evident upon his face...no, he just accepted it without really thinking to hard about it and accepted this new transition of their relationship. Angel wanted to hit him on the side of his head for being so obtuse sometimes...she decided to enlighten him and rectify this folly immediately as she sighed out. "Ugghh...I can't believe how dense you are sometimes. The reason we didn't romantically work out was because I could see you weren't in love with me but with Dean and that we were better off as friends instead." she saw his brown eyes going wide as her words registered in his mind and he began to stutter out in denial.

"N..n..no , no. Your wrong. I can't be in love with Dean. He's my best friend.. It's not like that with us...we share a bond like brothers. I can't feel this for him...can I?" Angel felt a little bit sorry for him because it was never easy to handle whenever you discover that you have feelings for someone.

"Yes...you can feel this for him. You two have been together for so long that you have ignored what you're feeling and explained it to yourself as nothing but feelings of friendship for him."Aidan began to shake his head in denial but not as vehemently as a few moments ago. " Look Aidan..I know you're not straight love. I have known for awhile that you are Bisexual...at least in Dean's case. I can see your attraction in your eyes each time you gaze at him...how you seem to hang onto his every word or always take his words to heart. It's plainly obvious to me how you feel about him." she stated to him in a tone as if he should have known how he felt all this time while she began to fork her food once more...leaving him to ponder her words there across from her. He stayed silent all during lunch ...his mind thinking hard upon what all she said to him..it wasn't till after the bell rung that signaled lunch was over that he voiced his thought out loud to her while they walked to class.

"Angel...I think I do love him. What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if he only see's me as his brother?" his eyes clearly showed he was worried about this..but her scoff at his words and the rolling of her eyes told him he was being ridiculous.

"Argghh...seriously Aidan. Don't be a moron." she stopped him in the hallway as she turned to peer at him with her hand on his shoulder. "Look Aidan...I know Dean does feel the same way as you. I can see how his eyes follow your every movement...so trust me on this. He feels the same for you. You just need to grab this bull by the stones and tell him." the halls were getting scarce as they stood there signaling to her that she was going to be late for class if she didn't get a move on. " Look I need to get to class." she turned and ran off but before she got to far away she turned quickly to shout. " Just tell him! It will be fine! I promise!" then she was gone..leaving him standing there flabbergasted at her words as the final bell rung letting him know he was late for class. With a disgruntled groan he ran to his next class as he mulled over her words...maybe just maybe she was right. He will have to think on this more..after classes ended today.

\-----------------------------------

LATER*LOCKER ROOM

Dean was stripping his sweat drenched shirt off of him so he could hit the showers and finally wash away the grueling workout he had out on the field earlier...and wash away Becca's touch. Shortly ago... right after Kassie,the head cheerleader, decided it was time to quit for the day...Becca cornered Dean in the empty hall and tried to seduce him there. Dean held up his hands to push her away but she pushed through and shocked him when she quickly pressed her lips to his own...he immediately grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away with disgust in the set of his jaw.

"Becca! No! I don't like you that way...so please stop trying to get with me...it's pointless." She was mad at his blatent refusal of her...no one refused Becca, the prettiest and most popular girl around...every guy wanted her don't you know. As she looked into his eyes it dawned on her why and that made her furious...with a snarl she backed away holding up her hands to keep him away.

"Oh my gawd...your one of those...those..perverts. Ugghhh...get away from me you stinking ass fairy!" with that she spun around and flounced away from him quickly...her words hurt Dean, but he held it inside and headed for the locker room to get cleaned up so he could go home finally, not really concerned where Becca was running off to so long as it was far away from him.

Dean was all alone in the locker room at this time and he quickly stripped down , heading to the showers to rinse off the sweaty filth from his body ...his thoughts on nothing but how good the hot water felt upon his skin. In short order he was finally clean and was turning off the water so he could get out to get dressed when he heard the locker doors opening...knowing the football team was now out of practice and coming for their own showers, Dean quickly made his way over to the towel table and grabbed one for himself. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, just focusing on drying off his hair and going home, when suddenly he felt someone collide into his shoulder to throw him off balance and against the table as his towel fell to the ground. With a grunt of pain as his side connected with the hard metal surface, he threw his hand out to catch himself and felt something grab his wrist...yanking him further onto the table. Dean reached out with his other hand and found that one also was grasped in a firm, immovable grip like its brother.... all of it happening in seconds before Deans mind could comprehend everything and react. Dean shook his head as he looked around...trying to process what all just happened and found himself splayed chest first across the towel table with his hands firmly ensconced in the Senior Linebacker of the Zebra's football team, Timothy Wilde...AKA Big Tim, own hands that had pulled Dean till his front half was stretched out over the cold metal table. Dean was surprised at first as he gazed up at the tall sturdy built blond haired teen with blue eyes who was smiling down at Dean , it wasn't friendly in the slightest and Dean felt a sudden chill inside...that smile got bigger as Dean tugged his hands but found that those meaty paws of Tim wouldn't relinquish their hold.

"Tim! What the hell! Let me go...right now!" Dean spat as his attempts to tug himself free failed...he was getting very angry as he saw several others from the team gathering around behind Tim...all watching what their team mate was doing to the newest varsity male cheerleader- the stuntman. Seeing everyone gathering around confused Dean for a moment and another thread of fear worked its way inside as he realized no one was going to help him...the cold realization of he was the only one who could save himself from whatever foul thing that Tim had planned. Dean quickly lifted his leg so he could jump over the table and tackle his assailant...hoping maybe he could get free then...as his one leg connected to the top of the table Dean felt someone sneak up behind him and grab his hips to hold him still as they pressed themselves against his backside..pinning him to the table and effectively immobilizing him securely to it. With a gasp, Dean turns his head to glance behind him and see's none other than the Senior Star Quarterback, Danny King-AKA King, with his sweat soaked dark brown hair that framed green eyes and a malicious smile upon his lips. Dean began to feel terror blanketing his insides at the sight of that smile and the sound of Danny's dark voice.

"Where do you think you're going Tiger?" Dean hated that nickname that the team gave him , just because he was smaller than them and was known to sass the opposing teams at games , they thought it was funny and cute to call him tiger. With a scowl Dean tried to bring his leg down so he was in less of a vulnerable position but right before he could pull it down another pair of hands that belonged to little Frankie, a young junior who was Danny's lapdog,grabbed it and held it there..leaving him opened and exposed...bent over the table top with his ass exposed. "Now, now...we can't have you cutting this party short..." he looked up to the crowd as he sneered "...now can we guys." there was snickers and a few ~ HELL NO ~ around , only one seemed very uncomfortable, but he just stood there with the others in the back. Dean turned white as the dawning realization of what they planned to do to him came to him. He began to fight against his restraints, trying to save himself, but it was futile in the end...Danny reached out and clutched Dean's blond curls tightly into his fist, then slammed his head down hard onto the table dazing the young man for a few moments as a sock was roughly shoved into his mouth to quiet him. Dean could hear Danny talking as his head throbbed from the bashing and prayed that someone would stop this unprovoked attack on him. "Awww ,Stop fighting it little pussy cat..we all know you want this little kitty. We all know you like to climb ~BIG TREES~ don't you." there was sounds of wicked laughter and hoots that echoed around the locker room as Dean laid there...a whimper slipped out from him as a tear rolled down his face and a prayer flew from his heart that someone would stop this madness.

~PLEASE...PLEASE SOMEONE...HELP~

***************************************

AIDAN POV

Aidan and Angel were walking down the hallways of the empty school corridors ,after school had ended ,as Aidan rummaged through his backpack, making sure all his homework was in there. Angel was looking down at her phone , playing Angry Birds on it...seemingly not paying attention to her surroundings, but Aidan wasn't fooled by her...he knew she was one of the most attentive people around and was easily able to focus on both game and on her environment. They were just about to round a corner when suddenly Angel put her hand out to stop him in his search for one specific piece of homework and stopping him in his tracks. Aidan looked up at her with a look of inquiry in his brown eyes and opened his mouth to ask her why did she stop him, but he saw she held up a finger to her lips for silence and with a nod of her head towards the bend of the hallway where he could hear the voices of several girls coming closer and laughing. Aidan recognized the voices as Becca and Natalie from the same cheer squad that Dean was on.

"Yeah. Dean, our cheerleader stuntman, is a pervert. Can you believe that? All this time he's been with us he's been checking out our boys on the gridiron instead of on us. How sick is that?" both girls paused at the hallways turn..just out of Aidan and Angel's sight but so close they could hear every word loud and clear.

"Ewwww! He's such a freak! Gross! That's so sick...a guy looking at other guys is so unnatural and against the laws of nature...and the bible." Aidan and Angel could hear the girl shuddering by the sound of her voice as they leaned close to the lockers, eaves dropping on the two cheerleaders conversation.

"I know..right." Becca huffed out then her voice went chipper as she spoke...chills slithered down Aidan and Angel's spines at what they heard. " Well we're not going to have to worry soon. Danny and some of the guys are going to teach that freak a lesson. He said he's going to quote unquote " Hammer the queer out of that fag"...he says he will show that sicko how to be a real man." hearing Becca and Natalie's laugh made the two concealed listeners sick to their stomach at the underlining message in Becca's words as both girls moved on past the hallway. Aidan glanced over to Angel and saw her face was just as pale as his...he knew Dean was in trouble and needed him but he knew he couldn't fight off the whole team by himself. He sucked in a breath to steady his nerves , knowing there was no other choice if Dean was going to be rescued ,and peered into Angel's eyes as he growled out to her.

"I've got to help him." he turned away and began to run towards the boys locker room where he knew Dean would still be at...barely hearing her shout of ~Where you going?~ he hollered over his shoulder as he ran as fast as he could. "Boy's Locker..to save Dean!" then he disappeared out of sight, praying to the heavens that he made it in time to save Dean.

Angel knew Aidan would fight the whole school for Dean but this was a battle Aidan could not win by himself...he needed more power...something with more strength..someone with more authority like.... Coach Urban. Quick as a flash she spun around and sprinted towards the teachers lounge where some of the teachers would still be gathering before going home themselves...praying the whole way there that she makes it in time to get help for   
Aidan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*LOCKER ROOM*

Dean's head was pounding while he laid there upon the cold metal table whimpering in the back of his throat as the hands on his wrists and leg upon the metal surface squeezed the flesh under them with bruising force, the body behind him callously laughed at Dean's attempts of struggling free. With each movement of Dean's endeavors of extricating his limbs from those bruising grasps, he could feel Danny rubbing his groin against Dean's backside...getting turned on by every one of the younger mans struggles...crowing in vicious delight at the sight before him.

"Look at this everyone! I think our little pussy cat is enjoying this. See, he's meowing for it..." Danny reached out with one hand and stroked Dean's blond curls in a sick loving manner as if he was stroking a pet, Dean shook his head in denial as tears fell down his face. "Aww..my sweet little kitten, you don't need to cry for it. Your master will give you just what you want." suddenly the hand that was stroking Dean's hair grasped it tightly to lift up as the older boy leaned down and harshly spoke into his ear as he pressed his arousal hard against Dean's ass...in a almost humping manner." Just know this ...pet...by the time I'm done with you my little pet I'll have you roaring like a tiger on my nice...hard...co...." Danny didn't finish what he was saying because at that moment Dean began to scream through the sock in his mouth as a loud roar of fury echoed through the locker room, startling everyone in there into shock at what they saw.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aidan made it to the boys locker room and flung the door open with such force that he was amazed it didn't crash into the wall ...it narrowly missing in hitting it. The laughter he heard from outside of the door became louder as he quickly stepped inside and what he saw in there made his blood boil...burning through the fear and replacing it with such fury that it was a miracle nothing turned to cinders from it. He saw Dean being held down naked onto the metal table ,that separated the dressing room portion from the showers, by Big Tim, Danny, and Frankie while a small group of guys from the football team cheered them on. Aidan could see tears trailing down Dean's cheeks as he shouted out in fear and anger through a sock that had been stuffed into his mouth to quiet him. Danny was behind Dean rubbing himself all over the young man's prone body...talking a bit loudly so the others could hear his vile words.

"Aww..my sweet little kitten, you don't need to cry for it. Your master will give you just what you want." at the sound of those words Aidan become murderously enraged and he propelled himself at Danny as he roared out in his fury.

"GET AWAY FROM MY LOVE!"There was a loud gasp throughout the room as a enraged Aidan barreled his fist into Danny's face...knocking the older boy into Frankie who let go of Dean's leg upon the impact of Danny's body into his. The second Aidan struck Danny's face Tim let go of both of Dean's wrists so he could come around to come to Danny and Frankie's aide...while Aidan grabbed the back of Dean's neck pushing down under the safety of the metal table as he growled to the shaking blonde.

"Don't worry love..I got you now. Stay there and let me handle these maggots." his voice was hard and filled with heated ferocity that it could flay with the heat of his anger and disgust alone. Aidan focused his attention onto the bigger man coming at him as Aidan stood in between Dean's crouching body and his assailants like a warrior guarding his most precious treasure from these fiends. Aidan assumed a fighting stance that he had learned in his martial arts class, quickly putting a bit of weight onto the balls of his feet to give himself a bit more movability in this fight....bringing his hands up into position.

He saw Big Tim balling his fist as he swung it towards Aidan's head but he swiftly ducked it before it could connect with his face and countered with his own low jabbing punch to the bigger man's gut. He then immediately grabbing the hunched over man's back of the neck before he could recover, where Aidan delivered a knee punch to Tim's face thus breaking his nose and knocking the man off his feet where he laid moaning on the floor as he clutched his nose. Out of the corner of Aidan's eyes he could see Danny getting up from where he fell moments ago...his face was red in his anger, looking like one of those cartoon characters one sees on t.v. as smoke billowed out of their ears. Before Danny' could get any steam up to attack Aidan quickly swung into a roundhouse kick that connected with Danny's head and knocked him out cold on top of Frankie who struggled to get the heavy weighted boy off of him. There was murmurs from those gathered filled with trepidation of engaging in a fight with this tall yet slim man who was protecting Dean...eyes kept flicking around waiting for someone to gather the nerve to attack him...hoping no one stepped forward and this altercation would be over.

**************

~ANGEL POV~

Angel ran down the hallway as fast as she could dodging some trash on the floor from some kid being a slob, heading for the teachers lounge where hopefully Coach Urban would be at. She saw the door up ahead and she put on a burst of speed..slipping and sliding as she grabbed the door handle before barreling past. The moment she ripped the door open she began to shout for Coach , who thankfully was inside at this moment.

"Coach Urban! Help!" his hazel eyes jerked up in surprise but they quickly narrowed at her appearance as she ran up to him...her brown hair in disarray from her head long flight down the corridors..her green eyes were wide in terror and her voice was strained as she panted next to him.

"What's wrong Angel?" his voice was deep and gruff sounding which normally made students stand up straight or cringe...today it brought comfort to the young woman as she gasped out to the older man.

"It's Dean and Aidan. I think they're in trouble." he raised his eyebrow at her for her to carry on. "Aidan and I overheard a couple of girls talking about how a few of the football team were going to hurt Dean..teach him a lesson and Aidan ran off to protect him." she saw he was a bit confused as he looked down at her with questioning eyes that told her he thought she may be over reacting...she had to get through to him some way. "Dean's gay Coach Urban." realization dawned in his eyes as he finally understood the danger...Coach knew some of his players were homophobic in a big way, but so long as they kept their opinions to themselves, kept their grades up and do a good job out on the field he ignored their prejudices...it seems his oversight may cause problems now. He had only been at this school for a short time, taking over for the last Coach who retired last year, but he knew the older man's prejudices against those of different sexual preferences than what he considered the norm. The man turned a blind eye to the bullying that occurred towards other gay students..never reporting it to the principle..if it was reported then the poor kid would only get more harassed and bullied till he retracted his statement then life went on as usual. Coach Karl didn't run his athletics program like that...he took everything very seriously..ever child deserved the right to learn in a environment that they felt safe in.

"Where?" his voice went chilly...Angel gulped quickly but blurted out the location of her friends.

"Boy's Locker Room." he nodded and bolted out the door with Angel on his heels...both hoping they make it before any harm is caused by some ignorant boys hatred of what they don't understand.

******************************

*LOCKER ROOM*

Dean crouched under the table gasping for breath as he watched Aidan fight with the three boys..protecting him from being assaulted again...tears slowly easing in his blue eyes as he watched Aidan move with such controlled ease that it was stunning to watch. The way Aidan moved reminded Dean of a very young, Irish version of Chuck Norris from the re-run show, Walker Texas Ranger, they loved to watch together on their laptops each night. Every night before they went to bed Dean and Aidan would watch a show or two on one of their laptops...both enthralled as Chuck Norris fought off villains with his martial arts skill and quick wits. Occasionally Aidan would make some remark about each movement of martial arts that Chuck would use on the show, imparting some tidbit he learned in his Tae Kwon Do classes he took to Dean who listened with delight at how those lips framed each word like ~Moreup Chigi- knee strike~ and ~Dolly O Chagi- roundhouse kick~ that caused Dean's breath to catch as a shiver ran down his spine. Every time Aidan spoke Dean had to conceal how the sound of Aidan's rich voice affected him so much there next to the unaware boy who was clueless to Dean's crush on him...ever since he discovered he was gay several years ago, Dean has held a crush on the slightly younger boy. Dean wanted to tell Aidan that he was in love with him but when Aidan began to date Angel, he knew there was no hope of his feelings being returned and he kept it a secret from that point on. But the moment he heard Aidan's words as he called Dean ~ love~ his heart began to pound in hope that maybe he had been wrong in keeping silent all this time.

It took only a few minutes for Aidan to dispatch with the three older boys as he stood in front of where Dean was crouched down, acting as a barrier between him and the ones wanting to hurt Dean. The only sounds that could be heard was shuffling of nervous feet and Dean's gasps of breaths he was gulping in as he huddled there...looking up at Aidan ,standing there in his defensive posture, with stars in his big blue eyes. Suddenly one of the onlookers found some courage to face the dark visage of Aidan as he shuffled forward to challenge Dean's dark angel who steeled himself against this next opponent set on threatening both younger boys...Dean held back his whimper so not to distract his stalwart guard from the task before him.

"Don't do this man. You know how this is going to end. You don't want to do this and be in more trouble now do you?" Aidan's rich voice tried to reason with the man who began to be unsure of this course he set himself on as he looked around for any others to join him...finding himself all alone there. As the young man contemplated what to do next the doors to the boys locker room flew open with a loud crashing bang as the Head Coach Karl Urban strode in as the door shut on Angel's peering eyes, blocking her from entering into the room...glaring as he came. The coach was a tall 25 year old man over 6"0" tall, slightly muscular build, dark hair that came to his shoulders framing his hazel eyes that was glittering like ice in his anger at what was going on before him.

************************

*KARL POV*

"What the HELL is going on here? It better not be something idiotic like a group of my players harassing a teammate...because that would be THE MOST STUPIDEST THING EVER!" Coach Karl's voice boomed into the silent locker room like some kind of Drill Sergeant in an Army Boot camp...the sound of his voice would very imposing and compelled you to answer him no matter what the answer was. As he walked towards the two younger boys...one standing guard over the other that was crouched naked on the floor...the small crowd parted to let him through where they were at. His eyes raked over them both, taking in the situation...making sure both boys were okay....then slowly they focused upon the three older boys laying on the ground looking dazed. He barely held in a smirk at the sight of the miscreants there, knowing they had been dealt with in an expedient, if not ethical, manner for now by the lean ,obvious trained in martial arts ,boy standing there still in a defensive posture that showed he was still ready for a fight if need be. Those hazel eyes took in the appearance of Dean who still knelt under the metal towel table naked as the day he was born, trembling, which Karl thought at first was from being cold but when those blue eyes looked up into his he saw they were red from crying and he knew....a cold anger and disgust filled him and he had to fight back his rage as he balled up his fists in keeping from lashing out. He took everything in quickly as he waited for a response...it was the dark haired martial arts boy who spoke.

"Coach Urban...I found these three trying to hurt Dean...I put a stop to it."Aidan's voice was clear and precise as he spoke with a tone of ~better deal with this the right way~ in it....which was Karl's intent anyways and he gave the young man a nod to let him know he heard. Coach Karl stood up straighter as he turned to face his players before him and with a strong voice he spoke out.

"Gentlemen...Recite to me the Players Code of Conduct to me now." he peered at each boy as they began to recite the Players Code to him.

"I hereby pledge to be positive about my youth sports experience and accept responsibility for my participation by following this Players' Code of Ethics Pledge.

1) Have fun!

2) Be a good sport (win or lose);Be honest, fair and always show good sportsmanship to all coaches, players, officials, parents and fans by demonstrating good sportsmanship at every game and practice.

3) Learn the value of commitment to the team. I will attend every practice and game that I can, and will notify by coach if I cannot.

4) Put personal goals aside for the betterment of the team.

5) Show courtesy and respect to teammates, opponents and coaches.

6) Realize that athletic contests, including practice sessions are educational experiences and opportunities.

7) I will not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct.

8) I will not engage in rude behavior.

9) I will treat everyone, including coaches, parents, players and officials, with respect, regardless of race, creed, color, nationality or gender." the teams voice spoke out in unison...dipping a bit lower in shame as they neared the end as Coach gave them a piercing stare.

"Well it looks like we have a problem here then. Three of my best players are being accused of breaking some of the rules of the Players Code of Conduct it seems. Let's see that would be code.... Which ones were broken?" he asked them...waiting for the answers he already knew. It was Frankie ,who finally sat up from under a waking up Danny who was still on top of him, that spoke.

"Rules 4, 5, 7, 8, 9...Sir" his head dropped in shame as his voice whispered out to the older man who gave him a nod of agreement.

"That's right. So I ask you...what should happen to those that break these cardinal rules that are set before every player at this school? Should we just ignore it this once or should there be a punishment for breaking these Laws all sportsman live by?" all that met him was silence except for scuffling of feet and a few nervous coughs...he turned to the other two young men where the dark haired one had retrieved a towel so Dean could cover up...he gave him a look of approval. "What is your name young man?" he asked since he still was relatively new at this school he didn't know all the students by name yet.

"Aidan Turner Sir." Aidan's posture was a bit more relaxed as he stood close to Dean...Karl's mind saw how the young man positioned himself close to the blond...not in a brotherly or friend posture but one of a lover possibly...the way he stood a bit closer than would be comfortable if friends...the way he angled his head and body towards Dean that spoke volumes to Coach's well observant eyes.

"Okay Mr. Turner. Since none of my BOYS will speak of what to do about this.. I'll ask you and Mr. O'Gorman here then...What should we do about this dilemma we find ourselves in?" he waited for both young men to put in their own opinion, since they were the victims in this. After a few moments of no one talking, Coach decided on a game plan for the time being. "Alright Mr. Turner, Mr. O'Gorman...I want you to get cleaned up and dressed, then meet me in the principals office...the rest of you will go to my office...NOW. MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" his voice barked out in a commanding tone that brooked no argument from anyone as they all scattered to do his bidding really quick. Karl walked behind the group towards his office...pausing briefly to glance at the two boys, seeing they were okay for the time being, then moving on again as he herded them all into his small office. Shutting the door he gave them all a piercing look that let them all know he was not happy in the slightest as he folded his hands behind him. "This is how this is going to go boys...I want you all to think real hard right now about what had just happened in that room while you recite the Champion's Creed to me. Take each vow to heart and measure your actions to what had occurred to see if you are a winner like I had believed you all to be." there was a round of groans and sighs but he didn't relent...this was a lesson in life that he was going to drill into these boys...maybe it would make them better men in the long run. With out any mercy to their plight he Barked out."THE CHAMPION'S CREED! NOW!-

1)Champions get up one more time than they have been knocked down.

2)Champions give their all, no matter the score.

3)Champions do what is right, even when it hurts." there was some who's heads lowered briefly...he could tell that one was one of the broken vows that had happened...they kept on.

"4)Champions know winning is not necessarily measured by the final score.

5)Champions take a stand for what is right, even when they stand alone." another vow broken ...again.

"6)Champions see every challenge as an opportunity.

7)Champions make those around them better." another broken vow.

"8)Champions do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

9)Champions dedicate themselves to prepare for success.

10)Champions put the success of others above individual achievement.

11)Champions understand winning is not the only thing.

12)Champions live by a higher personal standard.

13)Champions stand firm when others around them fall.

14)Champions live by what they speak and speak what they live.

15)Champions lay down their own desires for the benefit of others.

16)Champions willingly accept responsibility, and graciously deflect honor.

17)Champions never sacrifice what is best for something good.

18)Champions may fail...but they never quit." By the time they were done all heads hung in shame because they knew they had disgraced the codes that all good sportmans lived by. Coach Karl stood there gazing around at each individual...some had tears of remorse slipping down their cheeks and some looked dejected for their actions, but all were red faced in humiliation of their actions...most of them. The only one who seemed immune to the feeling of wrong doing was Danny who just looked away in irritation that he had to stand here and listen to this trash...Karl held back his growl but not his look of distaste for the boy. He knew when he looked at his players most of them had learned this lesson most likely and would be better men for it...but not Danny...this boy may never learn, always at odds with society...there was no help for it..save the ones that you can save and pray for the rest. His musings were interrupted by one of the boys who's voice was low as he spoke into the silence of the room...Ben Cumberhatch.

"Sorry Sir. We have failed you by not standing by our promises we made." Danny hissed at Ben to shut up...he was ignored as the young man continued with his penitent confession of their deplorable actions shortly ago...no one else tried to stop him from talking."We didn't stop the bullying of Dean as we should have...we just witnessed and allowed it to happen, Sir. Any punishment that you see fit to give us is what we deserve for our actions." the young boy bowed his head in remorse and waited for Coach Karl to say anything to them. Karl gazed at the boy standing there.. his respect for the kid went up a notch for his honesty and the willingness to accept the consequences for his actions...the rest of the team may not agree with him judging by some of their faces, but that was to bad. Karl lived by one philosophy above all others...for ever action their is an opposite or equal reaction in life and we must accept the consequences of our actions humbly.

"Thank you Ben for your honesty. Is there anything else that anyone wants to add?" there was a round of silence...sighing at the quiet group he opened the door to his office." Well if that is all then you can leave for the day...tomorrow I will see you all to address your punishment for your actions today. Thank you and see you tomorrow." his hazel eyes watched as the boys shuffled out of his office...with a groan he headed for the principles office in hopes maybe he would find out the rest of this story.


End file.
